Alexander Utz Opening Reception & Play Reading

GUT — The story of a frontier army surgeon, a fur trapper, and the unlucky gunshot wound that changed our understanding of digestion.

On June 6, 1822, at the American Fur Company Store on Mackinac Island, among a group of fur traders, a musket accidentally misfired and hit a 19-year-old French-Canadian voyageur named Alexis St. Martin.Quickly rushed to the nearby Fort Mackinac hospital, St. Martin's wound was cleaned and dressed by the fort's surgeon, William Beaumont. At the time, Beaumont did not believe St. Martin would survive more than 36 hours, but the young voyageur miraculously began a slow recovery.When the wound healed in a way that left an opening directly into St. Martin's stomach, Beaumont saw an opportunity to learn more about the process of digestion. For the next 11 years, the two men would work together on a series of 238 experiments and studies that completely reshaped our understanding of the digestive process. Explore this incredible story and learn from Chicago playwright Alexander Utz, author of the new play Gut, about how history is translated to the stage.

Admission is free.