The 2002 edition of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company’s annual marathon showcase of emerging talent features a slew of local fringe theater and performance companies and solo artists. The Abbie fest was founded in 1989 to honor the late anarchist author of Woodstock Nation and to commemorate the anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock music festival. “Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins XIV” offers a steady flow of entertainment while seeking to foster a communal spirit among performers and audience (which may be enhanced by sleep deprivation). A sliding admission-price scale allows audiences to attend a specific show or to come and go throughout the weekend; there are convenience stores nearby for those in need of a snack, the theater is air-conditioned, and there’s indoor plumbing–so you don’t need to use Port-a-Potties like the folks at Woodstock did. Participants in this year’s fest include A Red Orchid Theatre, the Hypocrites, Theatre Wyrzuc, Famous in the Future, Black Forest, and the Factory Theater as well as Mary-Arrchie, whose entries include festival perennials Gas Mask 101 and Wild Dogs. At press time, several slots in the schedule were assigned to the ever popular “To be announced”; check with the theater for updated information. Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company, Angel Island, 731 W. Sheridan, 773-871-0442. August 16-18: Friday-Sunday, according to the schedule below, which is subject to change, delays, etc. Tickets: $5 for a single admission (allows you to come in once and stay as long as you can take it–“no leaving for cigarette breaks or beer,” a press release warns); $10 for a one-day pass (allows you to come and go at will on a single day); and $25 for a weekend pass (with in-out privileges) to the full festival.
Opening Ceremonies
Whatupyou? Productions presents Dee Bolos’s one-woman show about life on Chicago’s south side. 7:35 PM.
Sock Puppet Showgirls
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Harvey Finklestein’s Institute of Whimsical, Fantastical and Marvelous Puppet Masterage (whew!) presents a parody of Paul Verhoeven’s notoriously bad 1995 film about the Las Vegas skin trade. “The movie is ripe for a scathing send-up, which [this] ramshackle troupe of puppeteers provides, hitting all the right notes with its obnoxious, profane interactive show. Finklestein’s Showgirls is 100 percent id, as astonishingly elaborate sock puppets delight in baring their boobies and dry humping one another. [This] relentlessly mean-spirited Punch-and-Judy show draws its audience into the fray and makes something that’s easy to ridicule even more fun to hate,” says Reader critic Nick Green. 9:05 PM.
This Black Forest production by James Moeller involves “a man, a woman, and a magic member.” 10 PM.
Parker Brothers’ Ouija
