Theater Feature: Three Days of Pieces &/or Music &/or Love: Questions, Answers, and the Twenty-Sixth Annual Abbie Fest

Mary-Arrchie artistic director Richard Cotovsky as Abbie Hoffman

A feature for Newcity Stage:

Nope, Mary-Arrchie artistic director Richard Cotovsky doesn’t spend three days non-stop in character as the late political prankster for whom his long-running theater festival is named. “I do the Abbie Hoffman for the opening and closing. That’s really it.” Following a 2pm Friday gathering at Daley Plaza (“It’s just a lot of yelling and screaming,” says the founder) festival participants—and anyone else who’d care to join—march down to Mary-Arrchie for the opening. Two and a half days later, the closing ceremonies commence. In between, a seemingly countless number of performers present “anything they want. The only criteria is that it’s an hour or less…”

( read full feature here )