The Neo-Futurists are best known for their way-cool, popular, and long-running Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, which is 30 plays in 60 minutes -- the order is chosen by the audience. A significant number of new plays every show, so you can safely go back monthly. They order pizza if the show sells out, and you even get a nametag! Yes, the Dadaistic joy of randomness matched with '60s-style audience participation with a swig of political awareness poured into a no-tech "poor theatre" bottle. Fri & Sat @ 11:30, Sun @ 7:00. Cost: $7 + roll of 6-side die. ($5-$10) Since its beginnings at the Live Bait theatre on December 2, 1988 (their first sell-out -- at which they ordered pizza -- was June 10, 1989) TMLMTBGB has run continuously, aside from a few weeks at the end of December. The 8-person group conceived of by Greg Allen moved into their current home, the 154-seat Neo-Futurarium, on Valentine's Day, 1992. A book of 100 Neo-Futurist Plays was published in 1993 by Chicago plays. The Neo-futurists also do a number of other shows in the large black-box space. They now play regularly in New York City, and have done tours of the West Coast, and performed at Aspen, Colorado's Comedy Arts Festival, and even at a festival in Romania. Since opening, TMLMTBGB has produced nearly 3000 world-premier plays (albeit short ones) in over 400 weeks of performances, while ordering about 500 pizzas. There have been nearly 40 Neo-Futurists since 1988. In the decade plus since the show's debut, Allen & Co. have managed to keep the 60 plays in an hour fresh. Says Chicago Magazine, "If you think playwrighting in Chicago begins and ends with Glengarry Glen Ross, you're in for a delightful shock when you check out the Neo-Futurists' ongoing and ever-changing production... The Neo-Futurists represent the cutting edge in Chicago." This Week on Stage says "The kind of show that makes you cry because it's just that good. The kind of show you tell everyone about within 24 hours after you've seen it...
Their website has email addresses for the cast, information about alums, and even an interesting hall of presidents.
Reviewed by Centerstage:
Too Much Light...
For more information, visit their website: http://www.neofuturists.org
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