CHICAGO – YIPPIE! It’s back, in the neighborhood of its roots. YippieFest 2023 will be August 4th-6th in the Lakeview/Buena Park venue of PRIDE ARTS, 4139 North Broadway in Chicago. The space is less than a half mile from the former Mary-Arrchie Theatre, whose “Abbie Hoffman Festival” was the template for the three-day performance celebration. YippieFest currently has slots for theater acts, including one-act plays, monologue, sketch, improv, vaudeville and other stage performance arts. Artists get free admission to the rest of the festival, so click YiPPIE FEST 2023 to sign up.
Film Review: The Universe of Miranda July Foresees ‘The Future’



CHICAGO – The beauty of indie filmmaker Miranda July lies in her ability to create substance and mystery out of the most mundane everyday circumstances. Ms. July wrote, directed and stars in the symbolically rich new film “The Future,” and nurtures the concept of “the relationship” into another realm.
Forging a stunning commentary on the mendacity of couplehood, July uses doses of intense fantasy and starkly cruel reality to light the dark corners of the interrelating human race. It also can be argued that this film is nothing more than survival mechanisms at work, and that the fantasy elements involved are merely represented to propagate the good fortune of getting to the next sunset.
Sophie (July) and Jason (Hamish Linklater) are a thirtysomething couple that have been together for four years. They have their internet and their rituals, including indulging in a pretend game that has Jason stopping time. Their lives are about to change because they find a stray, injured cat. They decide to adopt him, but the vet at the shelter tells them the cat’s specialized care will take thirty days, and they can pick him up then.
Given that they have only thirty days left of “freedom,” Sophie and Jason decide to quit their jobs and satisfy their heart’s desire. Jason joins a volunteer environmental organization, Sophie decides to do 30 dances in 30 days. As the time ticks away towards the adoption, the portals that the couple have opened begin to vacuum their emotions. Sophie becomes involved with a factory owner (David Warshofsky) and Jason starts to unravel in unexpected ways. If only he could really stop time.

![]() Photo credit: Roadside Attractions |
