Around the Coyote Arts Festival
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Running September 10 through 13, the ninth edition of this annual multidisciplinary arts exhibition in Chicago’s Wicker Park/Bucktown area showcases the work of emerging artists in all media–including more than 20 theater, improv comedy, and spoken-word/poetry productions, as shown in the following listings. Performances take place at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division (its main stage and studio theater host theater and performance); the Trap Door Theatre, 1655 W. Cortland; the Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, 1632 N. Milwaukee (third floor), where the focus is on improv comedy; and the front lawn of Association House, 2150 W. North, which hosts open-air Shakespeare. Other individual site-specific events take place at various locations as shown below. (For information on visual art attractions, see the Galleries & Museums section elsewhere in Section Two.) Suggested donation for the festival’s main exhibition sites is $5 per day or $10 for a festival pass. Admission to all theater and performance events is free, but donations will be requested after each show, with proceeds going “directly and fully to the performers,” according to a press release. Parking ($5) is available after 5 PM Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday at the A.N. Pritzker Elementary School parking lot, on Evergreen between Hoyne and Damen; there’s also limited free parking at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital, 2233 W. Division, and the festival intends to provide free bus service around the neighborhood next Saturday and Sunday. For more information, check at the Around the Coyote booth at the intersection of North, Damen, and Milwaukee during the festival, or call 773-342-6777.
The 58 Group
Improv actor and monologuist Abby Schachner performs excerpts from her repertoire of one-woman shows, including the currently running Lilly (see separate listing under Performance). Trap Door Theatre, 7 PM.
Night & Day Productions presents actor and cabaret singer Alexandra Billings in this staged reading of her own work-in-progress, which explores questions of love and loss. Chopin Theatre, studio, 7:30 PM.
Squat
Longtime off-Loop actor, director, and aesthetic gadfly Warren Leming created this satirical piece based on his Web journal Dummydown. The performance features the Dummy Down Players, an ensemble of actors and musicians. Chopin Theatre, main stage, 9 PM.
