The Neo-Futurists are an experimental theater troupe founded by Greg Allen in 1988, based on an aesthetics of honesty, speed and brevity. Neo-Futurist theatre was inspired in part by the Italian Futurist movement from the early 20th century. Originating in Chicago, branches of the Neo-Futurists also exist in New York City, San Francisco, and London (the latter under the name Degenerate Fox[1]).

Aesthetic

The Neo-Futurist aesthetic demands that everything that transpires in their theater be non-illusory, which is to say that they pretend nothing; actors only play themselves. All plays take place on a stage, specifically, the stage on which they are performed, in the present. If one of the performers reports that something has happened, you can bet that it really happened. Much of their work contains the possibility of failure, a unique theatrical component that keeps them and the audience honest. Their plays are wildly eclectic, touching on all genres and tones; plays may be political, satirical, personal, tragic, comic, abstract, musical, surreal, poetic, and so on.

The bottom line is that Neo-Futurism does not buy into the "suspension of disbelief"—it does not attempt to take the audience anywhere else at any other time with any other people. The idea is to deal with what is going on right here and now.

The general setup of the weekly shows is the same across groups and countries. "The Neo-Futurists ensemble attempts to perform 30 short plays in 60 minutes, with the order of the plays determined by the audience shouting out numbers based on a play menu handed out before the show. Each weekend, dice are rolled to determine how many of those plays will be replaced, which keeps each weekend’s iteration fresh."

History

The Neo-Futurists began with the show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: 30 Plays in 60 Minutes, often abbreviated as TMLMTBGB (though many refer to it simply as TML). For the first few years, the Neo-Futurist movement consisted entirely of TMLMTBGB, but then expanded to include "prime time productions." These productions began late evening, as opposed to TMLMTBGB's late-night starting time (11:30 in Chicago, 10:30 in New York).

The Neo-Futurists have published three books of plays from TMLMTBGB - two books of regular plays, and one of plays that use only one actor. They've also released one CD recording of plays from Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, one video, and a recording of Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious, a play described as an attempt to destroy comedy by analyzing it to death.

In 2008 the New York Neo-Futurists put on (Not) Just a Day Like Any Other, four autobiographical stories woven together with accompanying Bollywood music videos, relationships charted via PowerPoint, and margaritas for all.[2]

In November 2016, Greg Allen announced in an emailed press release that he intended to revoke the Chicago company's rights to perform TMLMTBGB.[3] Allen had ceased to be a member of the performing ensemble four years prior, and in his announcement he stated his intention to form a new company to perform the show[4] as a way to "combat the new Trump administration."[5] In a response statement, the Neo-Futurists stated that they were "disappointed that it has come to this conclusion," but that "throughout our long history with Greg there have been considerable artistic differences and irreconcilable personal conflicts."[4] Additionally, a former artistic director and ensemble member disputed Allen's claim that the split was motivated by external politics, citing instead ongoing personality conflicts.[6] In solidarity with the Chicago company, the New York and San Francisco productions of Too Much Light also closed that December.

Subsequently, the Neo-Futurists developed and opened a new weekly late-night show in 2017 titled The Infinite Wrench in all three branches to continue to showcase their two-minute plays.[7][8] The Chicago ensemble notably reached their 10,000th play on September 29, 2017.[9] A fourth branch, operating in London as Degenerate Fox, runs the similar show The Dirty Thirty.[10]

Theater members

Since 1988, the ranks of the Neo-Futurists have included the following individuals (listed alphabetically):

  • Claudia Alick
  • Greg Allen
  • Jessie Alsop
  • Rachelle Anthes
  • Jessica Anne
  • Brenda Arellano
  • Hilary Asare
  • Dave Awl
  • Aya Aziz
  • Benni Baker
  • Cecil Edward Baldwin
  • Ted Bales
  • Jake Banasiewicz
  • Meg Bashwiner
  • Joe Basile
  • Andy Bayiates
  • Jill Beckman
  • Sean Benjamin
  • Sam Bertken
  • Amelia Bethel
  • Anooj Bhandari
  • Neil Bhandari
  • Jackson Bird
  • Eli Bishop
  • Micael Bogar
  • Christopher Borg
  • Ashley Brockington
  • Desiree Burch
  • Eliza Burmester
  • Randy Burgess
  • Lisa Buscani
  • Tyler Butterfield
  • Regie Cabico
  • Will Caldwell
  • Maya Carter
  • Katie Kay Chelena
  • Karen Christopher
  • Kurt Chiang
  • Katharine Chin
  • Jezz Chung
  • Rachel Claff
  • Bill Coelius
  • Megan Cohen
  • Roberta Colindrez
  • Marisa Conroy
  • Jeffrey Cranor
  • Michael Cyril Creighton
  • Ida Cuttler
  • Adrian Danzig
  • Bilal Dardai
  • Trevor Dawkins
  • Joe Dempsey
  • Chris Dippel
  • Dean Evans
  • Michaela Farrell
  • Marjorie Fitzsimmons
  • Molly Flynn
  • Mary Fons
  • Cara Francis
  • Kevin R. Free
  • Clifton Frei
  • Betsy Freytag
  • Genevra Gallo
  • Ricardo Gamboa
  • Phil Gibbs
  • Ryan Good
  • Sharon Greene
  • Ayun Halliday
  • Alicia Harding
  • Rayne Harris
  • Tif Harrison
  • Nick Hart
  • Eevin Hartsough
  • Yael Haskal
  • Katharine Heller
  • Scott Hermes
  • Nicole Hill
  • Katy-May Hudson
  • Lindsay Brandon Hunter
  • Cat Huck
  • Chisa Hutchinson
  • Michael Improta
  • Joanna Jamerson
  • jeb
  • Rex Jenny
  • Chloe Johnston
  • Kate Jones
  • Jasmine Henri Jordan
  • Connor Kalista
  • Spencer Kayden
  • Heather Kelley
  • Dan Kerr-Hobert
  • Kathy Keyes
  • Jeewon Kim
  • Olivia Kingsley
  • David Kodeski
  • Greg Kotis
  • Noelle Krimm
  • Greg Lakhan
  • Jacquelyn Landgraf
  • Amy Langer
  • Zoe Lehman
  • Sarah Levy
  • Chan Lin
  • Melissa Lindberg
  • Shelton Lindsay
  • Erica Livingston
  • Christopher Loar
  • Ci'era London
  • Anita Loomis
  • Trent Lunsford
  • Jonathan Mastro
  • Robin MacDuffie
  • Mike Manship
  • Dylan Marron
  • Margaret McCarthy
  • Dan McCoy
  • Julia Melfi
  • Megan Mercier
  • Daniel Mirsky
  • Lily Mooney
  • Steve Mosqueda
  • Tonya Narvaez
  • Rob Neill
  • Nessa Norich
  • Abby Pajakowski
  • Clare Palmer
  • Andie Patterson
  • Flor De Liz Perez
  • Page Phillips
  • Connor Shioshita Pickett
  • John Pierson
  • Matt Pine
  • Simon Pond
  • Mike Puckett
  • Marta Rainer
  • Ale Ramirez
  • Val Ramirez
  • Ezra Reaves
  • Sheri Reda
  • Tim Reid
  • Tim Reinhard
  • Phil Ridarelli
  • KR Riiber
  • Heather Riordan
  • Joey Rizzolo
  • Geryll Robinson
  • Paige Saliba
  • Connor Sampson
  • Krystal Seli
  • Annie Share
  • Lauren Sharpe
  • Stephanie Shaw
  • Kyra Sims
  • Diana Slickman
  • Adam Smith
  • Alexis Smith
  • Siyu Song
  • Lusia Strus
  • Caitlin Stainken
  • Colin Summers
  • Bahaar Taj
  • F. Omar Telan
  • TL Thompson
  • Justin Tolley
  • Jay Torrence
  • Katrina Toshiko
  • Mike Troccoli
  • Leah Urzendowski-Courser
  • Robin Virginie
  • Alex Vlahov
  • Kristie Koehler Vuocolo
  • Dylan Waite
  • Shaina Wagner
  • Dina Marie Walters
  • Ryan Walters
  • Steven Westdahl
  • Ryan Patrick Welsh
  • Ro White
  • Yolanda Kaye Wilkinson
  • Brent Whiteside
  • Jenny Williams
  • Wallace Yan
  • Stephen Colbert auditioned for the Neo-Futurists, and was cast as part of the ensemble, but never got an opportunity to perform with them.[11]

Theater locations

  • Chicago: 5153 N. Ashland Avenue (The Neo-Futurarium)
  • New York: 85 E. 4th St., near 2nd Ave. (The Kraine)
  • San Francisco: 447 Minna St.[12]
  • London: 2 Shepperton Road Rosemary Branch Theatre

Accolades

In 2011, the New York Neo-Futurists produced an original piece, "Locker 4173b," wherein Neo-Futurists Joey Rizzolo and Christopher Borg purchased a foreclosed storage locker and, as amateur archaeologists, excavated, catalogued, and chronicled their findings.[13] The show received critical acclaim and received a New York Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Performance Art Production in 2011.[14]

The New York Neo-Futurists were also New York Innovative Theatre Awards recipients for 'Outstanding Performance Art Production' in 2006, 2011, & 2017, 'Outstanding Ensemble' in 2009, and the Caffe Cino Award 2010. They also have been nominated for two Drama Desk awards in 2012 and 2014. In 2009 the New York company won the Village Voice Readers’ Choice poll for Best Performance Art and was named one of the nytheatre.com People of the Year.

References

  1. "DEGENERATE FOX". DEGENERATE FOX. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  2. Sobieski, Sonia (November 2008). "Looking to the Neo-Future: (Not) Just Another Day Like Any Other". The Brooklyn Rail.
  3. "Greg Allen pulls 'Too Much Light' from Chicago's Neo-Futurists". Time Out Chicago. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  4. 1 2 "'Too Much Light' creator yanks show from Chicago Neo-Futurists". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  5. Jones, Chris. "Longtime favorite 'Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind' to end over dispute". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  6. "Former Artistic Director Doubts Politics Were Behind 'Too Much Light' Yank". DNAinfo Chicago. Archived from the original on 2016-12-03. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  7. Villiesse, Kendrah (13 March 2017). "The new future of The Neo-Futurists". The Columbia Chronicle. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  8. "The Infinite Wrench". Playbill. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  9. "The Neo-Futurists Close 2017 with 10,000 Premieres and a Year-End Full of Events - Chicago News, Reviews, and Events". chicago.thelocaltourist.com.
  10. "Degenerate Fox Theatre Presents THE DIRTY THIRTY Next Month". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  11. Awl, Dave. "Stephen Colbert: Behind the Maniac, " Ocelopotamus (May 23rd, 2007 ).
  12. "Partners - Women's Audio Mission & PUSH Dance".
  13. "New York Times article, 'Finding the Drama in What Life Has Left Behind' by Corey Kilgannon" New York Times.com, accessed August 6, 2012
  14. "New York Innovative Theater Awards Listing, '2011 Recipients'" nyitawards.com, accessed August 6, 2012
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