So Fast, You'll Go Blind

If you’re looking for something fresh on the theater scene, try the Neo-Futurists’ Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. The writing, acting and performance troupe has been constantly creating and re-creating its show for 17 years. Too Much Light is a 60-minute show consisting of 30 topical, funny, emotional plays, ensembles and monologues. All begin with “Go!” and end with “Curtain.” And all, according to artistic director Sharon Greene, are “emotionally honest.” Beyond those characteristics, though, each show is wholly unpredictable and new.

The Chicago-based Neo-Futurists cut and replace two to 12 plays every week to keep things fresh. They perform the 30 plays impossibly quickly, which only adds to the show’s frenetic energy. Audience members call out the number of the play they’d like to see, and the number is yanked off a clothesline. “The order is random,” explains Greene. “But the plays are scripted — written by the five performers you see in the show. It’s not improv comedy. We respond to the audience honestly, but we know what we’re going to say.”

And what they say may shock you. “We’re not reporters, we’re artists,” Greene says. “If you’ve come to hear us, you might want to know how someone biased thinks about things.” See if they’re right at 9 p.m. today, and at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 15.

Fri., April 14, 9 p.m.; Sat., April 15, 7:30 p.m.