They’re
back! Well, sort of.
Three years ago, The Neo-Futurists
opened Geva’s new Nextstage with Too Much
Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. New players from the same outfit are
presenting the same nonsensical title on the Nextstage again, taking time off
from their perpetual clowning in Chicago, at (where else?) the Neo-Futurarium.
The Neo-Futurists change the
selection of “plays” that make up Too
Much Light every night — about 30 percent of them are different each
time, they say. An audience member rolls dice each night to see how many of the
short works will change. So, I can describe what they’ve done, but there’s no
telling what they’ll do next time.
The Nextstage is for alternative
theater, and believe me, this group is nothing but alternatives. Audience
members roll a die to determine the cost of their ticket: the base price is
$12, plus between $1 and $6. A clothesline strung with numbers 1 to 30 hangs
over the stage, and the audience calls out numbers to determine the order of
the playlets these zanies will perform in one hour. You get a menu with 30
titles, numbered, and as each is chosen, the actors jump up and grab that
number off the clothesline before performing it. Example: #22 “The
Painfully Abridged Jane Austin.”
If the intimate theater sells out,
The Neo-Futurists order pizza for everyone to eat at the end of the show. The
cast also asks for ideas and assistance during the show, and the program
includes their individual e-mail addresses with a plea to “Email
Us!”.
Of course, there’s more artifice and
planning than they let on. This year’s Futurists don’t always pretend
persuasively that they’re really listening to what numbers are called out and
are consequently performing the playlets in random progression. They usually
finish all 30 before the hour is up, but they take maybe 35 minutes to set it
all up before they start the clock. And we cynics don’t really believe the
program note that says “Guaranteed to Remove All Your Unwanted Body
Hair!”.
But they give good fun. In sudden,
spot-lit freezes, Ryan Walters offers undressed poses that we are,
understandably, warned not to ever think about. Noelle Krimm, who can sing,
makes us wonder about that with some bits of song you won’t want to ever think
about again.
In “This Play Will Not End
Until Sean Earns Enough Money To Buy A Beer After The Show,” Sean Benjamin
presents such a pathetic threat of guitar-playing and song that people rush up
to throw dollars at him and end it quickly. Jay Torrence earnestly contributes
both mathematical knowledge and motivational expertise on making money that I
certainly want to forget. And Diana Slickman gives us commentary so dry that it
bears amazing resemblance to something that makes sense.
These energetic, deadpan put-on
artists are so entirely likable that if few of their “plays” are
well-crafted, sharply pointed, or silly enough to be hilarious, I, for one,
don’t care. They’re diverting and a pleasure to be around.
The Neo-Futuristsplay
with the audience at Geva Theatre Center’s Nextstage, 75 Woodbury Blvd.,
through February 9. Performances are Thursdays at 8:30 p.m., Fridays and
Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 9, at 8 p.m. Tix: $13-$18.
585-232-GEVA (4382), www.gevatheatre.org.
This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 4, 2003.
