After recently celebrating their ten-year anniversary on Sept. 16, with a huge benefit party, Chicago's Neo Futurists announce their latest season of fast paced comedy and theatre.
The Neo-Futurists received acclaim in America's two major theatre cities (New York and Chicago) for their innovative hybrid of improv comedy and experimental theatre, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind -- performing 30 plays at the lightning-paced speed of 60 minutes.
This year's season is as follows:
Oct. 19 - Nov. 28, True Dreams of Annie Arbor
A world premiere play by John Roberts, in which three actors perform 15 parts in a wild, mysterious inquiry into the nature of identity and redemption.
Jan. 11 - Feb. 6, 1999, Neo Mondo Solo '99
Four company members: Anita Loomis, Geryll Robinson, Stephanie Shaw, and Diana Slickman perform original solo pieces in the Neo-Futurists' annual festival of solo performances.
Feb. 22 - April 3, 1999, David Kodeski's True Life Tales: Another Lousy Day .
From the creator of Doris and Niagara! (you should have been yosemite), Kodeski uses diaries and scrapbooks found in a thrift store to examine the extraordinary life of woman working in the Zenith television factory. April 19 - May 29, 1999, Boxing Joseph Cornell
Allen and Connor Kalista, of last year's Crime and Punishment, use the collage-based boxes of 20th century surrealist Joseph Cornell to create another interactive exploration into the nature of vision, perception and identity.
Too Much Light will continue each week at the Neo Futurarium, at its regularly scheduled times on Fridays and Saturdays at 11:30 PM, Sundays at 7 PM. Regular admission is $5 - $10, depending on the role of a die to get in.
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Neo-Futurism was founded in 1988 by Allen, who recently told PBOL that he got "tired of doing theatre for just my friends," and created the wildly successful Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, in which the audience has the opportunity to choose the order in which the plays are done.
Allen, a teacher of theatre history at Columbia College, bases his performance theories on the Futurist manifestos of F.T. Marinetti. "Futurism," an artistic movement based on speed, movement and violence, was founded in 1910 by Marinetti. Allen continued, "I wanted to explore the performance theories of Futurism, Dada, and Environmental Theatre. What I saw in the Futurist theories was speed and incredible energy, even today his [Marinetti's] theories are considered outrageous."
For tickets or more information on any of the events at The Neo Futurarium, call (773) 275-5255.
-- By Sean McGrath
