The Mary-Arrchie/ISU Connection

You should already know that Chicago's Mary-Arrchie Theatre will be hosting a cadre of ISU students (recent grads and undergrads) when they bring Euripides "Electra" to their stage in July.

Matt Bausone, Caitlin Boho, Terrence Budnik, Kelsey Bunner, Gwen de Veer, Matthew Hallahan, Frank Huber, Keith Jackewicz, Russell Krantz, Emily Nichelson, Paula Nowak, Lauren Pfieffer, Danny Rice, Dustin Rothbart, Kadyn Walther and special guest Bert Matias form the "Electra" ensemble under the direction of Sonja Moser, performing July 6 to 29 at Mary-Arrchie Theatre, 735 W. Sheridan Road in Chicago.

Tickets are now available if you want to reserve your spot.

In addition to tickets, you can also support Mary-Arrchie's 60 Seat Campaign on Indiegogo, as the theater seeks to replace its Angel Island seating. As part of that effort, Mary-Arrchie is looking to raise upwards of $3,000 in order to "purchase 60 brand, new cushion-y audience holders for our 27th season." If you are planning to support ISU's "Electra" venture by going to see the show, it is in your best interests to help them out with their chairs venture. Just thinking of your comfort!

They are also offering "perks" for your donations, like shout-outs on Facebooks, high fives from Mary-Arrchie troupe members, a child's drawing of Artistic Director Richard Cotovsky, and, as the numbers rise, T-shirts, posters, season tickets, and dinner out with Cotovsky.

You can see all the details and contribute right here.

So there's "Electra," and there's the 60 Seat Campaign, which will benefit the ISU actors performing in "Electra," and now we also have a new ISU/Mary-Arrchie connection, as Tori Allen, who just graduated from the ISU School of Theatre, is also doing a Mary-Arrchie performance.

Allen wrote and starred in a one-woman show called "If You Like it Then You Should’a Put Some Gin in It" at ISU as part of its Freestage program in April. That show was directed by another alum, Johnny Oleksinski.

Allen announced today that she and Oleksinski are bringing her "Gin" show to Mary-Arrchie for its annual Abbie Fest, with performances scheduled for August 17, 18 and 19. Abbie Fest, which is a three-day celebration of the anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair that took place in 1969, is now 24 years old. And Tori Allen and her "Gin" will be part of the festivities.

ISU Freestage Starts Tonight with "Gin" and "Boom"

The Freestage program at ISU, which “provides an opportunity for students to produce, direct, act, and design experimental and original works on and off campus,” begins tonight with a show called “If You Like it Then You Should’a Put Some Gin in It,” written and performed by ISU undergrad Tori Allen, and Peter Sinn Nactreib’s “Boom,” a fun look at the end of the world. No, really!

Allen’s show opens tonight with a 7 pm show at Centennial West 202, followed by performances Thursday at 8:30 pm, Saturday at 4 pm and Sunday at 4:30 pm. No word yet on what Allen is including in her original one-woman show, but she has graciously written some quotes for herself that promise this “Gin” is “astonishing,” “prolific” and “okay.”

So there you have it. If "astonishing," "prolific" and "okay" sound like your cup of gin, you'll want to catch Tori Allen's show.

“Boom” is a short play (about 90 minutes in its New York production at Ars Nova in 2008) that features a narrator who may be a museum guide talking to us from the future, and two mismatched characters, a gay marine biologist who thinks the world is ending, and a journalism student looking for a hook-up.

They may be the last people on Earth. They may not be real, but simply a sort of diorama to explain the end of the world. Or maybe it’s all just crazy talk.

“Boom” is directed by Josh Raether for Centennial 202, with performances tonight at 8:30 pm, Thursday at 7 pm, Saturday at 5:30 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm.

And as you may have guessed from the name Freestage, all performances are free.

(Note: The posters have Sunday at 3 pm in CW 202 for both “Boom” and “Freeze Tag.” Clearly it’s just one or the other. Based on the rest of the schedule, my guess is that 3 pm is really the spot for “Boom.” But that’s just a guess.)