Photo Flash: MUD PEOPLE Tells A Story Of Hope & Faith At Angel Island, Previews 6/2

Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. is proud to present the Midwest premiere of Mud People at Angel Island, 735 W. Sheridan. It will open Thursday June 4th at 8 p.m. and run Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 on Thursday and Sunday, $20 on Friday, and $22 on Saturday. There will be $5 previews on Tuesday June 2 and Wednesday June 3rd at 8 p.m. We will close on Sunday, July 12th. There will be no show on Saturday, July 4th. There is limited parking available in the Mobil Gas Station across from the theater at a fee determined by Mobil Gas. For more information and reservations call (773) 871-0442.

Set in a dilapidated greasy spoon in rural Claybourne Rising, Mud People is a hilarious and altogether uplifting story that highlights the importance of hope and faith in a world full of harshness and cynicism. The lives of these "mud people" are changed by the intercession of a mysterious stranger who has to power to inspire child-like hope as a means of finding freedom from the mistakes of the past.

Mud People was first developed as staged reading at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center's National Playwrights Conference. It was a winner of the Cunningham Prize for playwriting and awarded an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship for playwriting. It was a winner of 7 Drama-Logue Awards in Los Angeles including best new writing.

Keith Huff has seen his work on many a Chicago stage including the highly acclaimed and award-winning A Steady Rain (Chicago Dramatists), Birdsend (Mary-Arrchie), The Bird and Mr. Banks (LiveBait), and Pursued By Happiness (Steppenwolf).

Mud People is directed by Carlo Lorenzo Garcia (Our Bad Magnet). It features Richard Cotovsky (Buried Child, The Caretaker), Daniel Behrendt (Our Bad Magnet, Beggars in the House of Plenty), Todd Lahrman (The Caretaker), Mary Jo Bolduc (Beggars in the House of Plenty), Michele Gorman, Laura Sturm, Buck Zachary, Dereck Garner and Zach Overstreet.

Designers include William Anderson (set), Stefin Steberl (costumes), Matthew Gawryk (lights), Joe Court (sound) and Adam Miller-Batteau (fights). Stage Management is by Jen Poulin. Assistant direction is by Shannon Clausen.

For reservations and information, call (773) 871-0442

Visit their website at www.maryarrchie.com.

Photo by Shannon Clausen

Michele Gorman, Dereck Garner, Mary Jo Bolduc

Richard Cotovsky, Mary Jo Bolduc, Dereck Garner

Richard Cotovsky, Michele Gorman, Mary Jo Bolduc, Dereck Garner