Let’s do the time warp again, as the Mary-Arrchie Theatre commemorates the anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock festival with an annual theater and performance marathon named in honor of the author of Woodstock Nation. Seeking to stimulate a communal spirit (which may be enhanced by sleep deprivation), Mary-Arrchie’s Richard Cotovsky has organized the festival’s three days as a nearly nonstop procession of entertainment. Informality and spontaneity are the order of the day. Whether the same is true of punctuality remains to be seen; the schedule listed below, provided at the beginning of the week, may be subject to change and the whim of fate. Unofficial highlights to watch for include the theater companies changing sets–even though there’s no time allotted for that in the schedule–and periodic musical entertainment by guitarist Alex Blatt. Mary-Arrchie Theatre, Angel Island, 731 W. Sheridan, 871-0442. August 20 through 22: Friday-Sunday, according to the following schedule. $5 per admission; $10 for a one-day pass; $25 for a pass to the full festival.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 20
MARCH
A street procession from Daley Center plaza, 50 W. Washington, to Mary-Arrchie heralds the festival’s start. Yippie! 3 to 6 PM.
Opening Ceremonies
Abbie Hoffman (as portrayed by Richard Cotovsky) returns from the dead to launch the festivities. 7 PM.
Overtones
Spiral Productions presents Alice Gerstenberg’s play about “two cultured women and their other halves–the primitive side.” 7:30 PM.
Diary of a Madman
Nikolay Gogol’s story about a nut case in czarist Russia is adapted and performed by Rush Pearson. Reviewing the show’s 1991 run at the Prop Theatre, Reader critic Jack Helbig said that Pearson “keeps us riveted to him, worrying about his fate even as he slips into a hilariously delusionary world.” 8 PM.
Sympathy for the Devil
Herb Lichtenstein performs a 10-minute monologue. 9:15 PM.
Answers
Tom Topor’s short play about a murder suspect’s interrogation is presented by Dreadful Engines Theater Co. 9:25 PM.
Starbug
Chris Metzger performs his cosmic comic serial about an outer space insect and his fight against evil. Every performance of Starbug during the festival will feature a different episode. 10 PM.
Gas Mask 101
Arlene Cook’s weirdly wistful portrait of college guys fretting over the draft in 1970–the era of campus protests, guilt-free dope, and sexually segregated dorms–is presented by the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. 10:10 PM.
Chihuahuas, There Is Help
This program of improv comedy is performed by Thanks for Coming. 11 PM.
Starbug
See listing for 10 PM Friday. Midnight.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 21
Bliss
Ernest Angst’s satire is performed by FathOMless. 12:10 AM.
Answers
See listing for 9:25 PM Friday. 1:10 AM.
Pandora
This physical theater piece, written and directed by Deborah King and performed by Kathy Schmidt to Adam Kroloff’s musical accompaniment, explores themes of self-discovery and women’s empowerment. 1:45 AM.
The Monologue Conspiracy
Actors and interested audience members are invited to participate in this performance-cum-rehearsal in which solo speeches are delivered, critiqued, and sent back for further development. 2 AM.
To Be Announced
3 AM.
Cake Talk
“If you want to know why your cake doesn’t rise, call Cake Talk,” asserts the publicity description for this talk show from A Red Orchid Theatre. 5 AM.
To Be Announced
To sleep, perchance to dream. 6 to 10 AM.
Actors’ Jam Session
Improv games, etc. 10 AM.
To Be Announced
11 AM.
The “Wo” Beside “Man”
The emphasis is on misogynistic violence in this evening of performance poetry by Brian Gary Kirst, presented by Theatre Wyrzuc. 12:30 PM.
Answers
See listing for 9:25 PM Friday. 1 PM.
Wild Dogs
Matt Borczon’s play concerns “two males [who] turn their hostility toward women on each other,” said Reader critic Tom Valeo when he reviewed this Mary-Arrchie Theatre production in 1991. 2 PM.
Drew Richardson, Dramatic Fool
Richardson specializes in physical clowning (often with a bittersweet edge). 2:30 PM.
Mud
Rare Terra Theatre Co. performs Maria Irene Fornes’s play about people trapped in poverty and ignorance. 3 PM.
All Aboard
David Sheppard wrote this play about the friendship of two women. 4 PM.
Overtones
See listing for 7:30 PM Friday. 5 PM.
To Be Announced
5:25 PM.
Starbug
See listing for 10 PM Friday. 5:50 PM.
Caricatures Like Us
Better Days Productions offers a staged reading of Mark Guarino’s black-comic play-within-a-play about a playwright seeking a commercial hit. 6 PM.
Bliss
See listing for 12:10 AM early Saturday. 7 PM.
Pandora
See listing for 1:45 AM early Saturday. 8 PM.
After Magritte
Tom Stoppard’s comedy concerns a family involved in a surrealistic crime. It’s presented by Chroma-Zone Productions. 8:15 PM.
Sympathy for the Devil
See listing for 9:15 PM Friday. 9 PM.
Beyond Mozambique
A onetime Nazi doctor, a porn queen, and a rejected Canadian Mountie are among the outcasts trapped in a jungle hideaway. George F. Walker’s dark comedy is presented by Mary-Arrchie Theatre. 9:10 PM.
Famous in the Future
The optimistically named comedy troupe performs its revue Hibbity Ibbity Ibbity Gits Ton Ton Ton. 10:30 PM.
Starbug
See listing for 10 PM Friday. 11:15 PM.
Penguin Blues
Ethan Phillips’s one-act concerns a young man and a nun in an alcohol rehab center. 11:25 PM.
Bang Bang
This improv company aims for volatility and Brechtian self-awareness in its free-form program. Midnight.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 22
Zug Zug
The experimental music-theater group Chongo’s Bongo Village seeks to create “a cavalcade of catastrophe” in this performance piece inspired by the LA riots and other racially charged urban ills. 1 AM.
Answers
See listing for 9:25 PM Friday. 2 AM.
Tiff and Mom and Friends
Corn Productions presents its original soap-opera spoof about a decidedly untraditional Berwyn family. 2:30 AM.
Tainted Meat
Improv comedy. 3:10 AM.
Bitch With Rich
Kvetch as kvetch can, in this audience-participation rap and rant session led by Richard Cotovsky. 3:40 AM.
Cake Talk
See listing for 5 AM early Saturday. 5 AM.
To Be Announced
6 to 10 AM.
Mud
See listing for 3 PM Saturday. 10 AM.
To Be Announced
11 AM.
Wild Dogs
See listing for 2 PM Saturday. 11:30 AM.
Revolution for the Hell of It
Excerpts from Abbie Hoffman’s sometimes prophetic, sometimes tongue-in-cheek manifesto are performed by various actors. Noon.
Drew Richardson, Dramatic Fool
See listing for 2:30 PM Saturday. 1 PM.
Overtones
See listing for 7:30 PM Friday. 1:30 PM.
Famous in the Future
See listing for 10:30 PM Saturday. 2 PM.
Starbug
See listing for 10 PM Friday. 2:50 PM.
After Magritte
See listing for 8:15 PM Saturday. 3 PM.
Penguin Blues
See listing for 11:25 PM Saturday. 3:45 PM.
To Be Announced
4:20 PM.
‘Dentity Crisis
Corn Productions presents Christopher Durang’s short comedy. “Durang creates a disturbingly surreal world where people change identities faster than they can change clothes. Unfortunately, this production runs roughshod over the philosophical issues in Durang’s script,” says Reader critic Maura Troester. 5 PM.
The “Wo” Beside “Man”
See listing for 12:30 PM Saturday. 5:35 PM.
All Aboard
See listing for 4 PM Saturday. 6 PM.
Starbug
See listing for 10 PM Friday. 7 PM.
Alma’s Pantsuits
Caren Skibell performs a one-woman multimedia show. 7:15 PM.
Asscat
The Upright Citizens Brigade performs a combination of written sketches and audience-interactive improv comedy. 8:15 PM.
Mud
See listing for 3 PM Saturday. 9 PM.
Gas Mask 101
See listing for 10:10 PM Friday. 10 PM.
Closing Ceremonies
hosted by Richard Cotovsky as Abbie Hoffman. 10:50 PM.