Theater News: Rich Cotovsky at Final ‘Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins’ Fest From Aug. 19-21, 2016

CHICAGO – It’s 3am on Saturday night/Sunday morning on August 20th, and you’re just not ready to quit. How about indulging in the 2016 “Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins” Theater Festival? The three-day theater marathon is in its 28th edition, and will be sponsored for the final time by the Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company, and hosted by the “Godfather of Storefront Theater,” Rich Cotovsky. It all takes place at the Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee in Chicago (details below).

This is the End: Rich Cotovsky as Abbie Hoffman at the ‘Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins” Theater Festival
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

The 2016 “Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins” Theater Festival begins on Friday, August 19th, at 7pm with Rich Cotovsky opening the ceremonies portraying Abbie Hoffman, and closes around midnight – with Cotovsky again as Hoffman – on Sunday, August 21st. Between those events are a true variety of theater pieces, weird acts, music, comedy and just plain fun. HollywoodChicago.com’s Patrick McDonald is performing with “Famous in the Future,” a comedy troupe that will be “playing” their “Greatest Hits” on August 20th at 5:30pm.

Patrick McDonald (upper left) of HollywoodChicago.com is part of ‘Famous in the Future’ at the 28th Abbie Fest
Photo credit: FamousintheFuture.com

Cotovsky was a co-founder of the festival in 1989 through his Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company. The decision to do its last festival was precipitated by the closing of the Angel Island Theatre in Chicago, which was Mary-Arrchie’s home base since the 1980s. Cotovsky explained the inspiration behind the festival in an interview with HollywoodChicago.com in February of this year…“Abbie Hoffman’s inspiration was, in a sense, inadvertent. I wanted to do something to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Woodstock at the time, and it just happened that Abbie died the same year. Hoffman was always an inspiration to me, for his activism and execution of that activism.”

CLICK HERE [15] for PART ONE and HERE [16] for PART TWO of the HollywoodChicago.com interview of Rich Cotovsky.

Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. Presents the 28th “Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins” Theater Festival, Friday, August 19th through Sunday, August 21st at the Den Theatre, 1333 North Milwaukee, Chicago. Tickets are $10 daily (at the door), $25 for a full weekend pass. For ticket purchasing information, click here. [17] For a complete schedule of acts, click here. [18] For information about the “Famous in the Future” comedy troupe, click here. [19]

[20]	By PATRICK McDONALD [21] Writer, Editorial Coordinator HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [20]