The Neo-Futurists' 'TOO MUCH LIGHT' to Return to Victory Gardens

The Neo-Futurists bring Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind to Victory Gardens on May 7th for their second Neo-Access performance. The event utilizes a touch tour, audio description, closed captioning, ASL interpreters, Braille and large print programs and a performance space that is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The first Neo-Access performance on January 23rd was an exceptional experience welcoming over 150 audience members, many who had not been able to experience the show before that night. Mike Ervin, The Access Project Coordinator at Victory Gardens, stated before the show, "I've been looking at theatre listings for about 30 years in Chicago, seeing what's playing and I've always seen The Neo-Futurist stuff out there, all these years. And every time I see it I think to myself, 'Gee, that sounds like fun. Too bad it's so inaccessible."

A highlight of the first show was during Neo-Futurist Trevor Dawkins' play Anti-Mime. In the play, Dawkins recounts a mime routine, using only words and remaining completely still. The play always garners a laugh, but this performance was different. The ASL Interpreters translated and physicalized every word of the monologue, creating an entirely unique experience that transcended the play's original intent. This was one instance of many where the accessibility accommodations made the long-running Too Much Light that much more surprising and spontaneous.

Kurt Chiang, Artistic Director of The Neo-Futurists states, "It's great that we're coming back to do another Neo-Access show at Victory Gardens. We made a point to seek out direct feedback from folks who made use of the services so that we could improve upon the first show, adding more clarity and playing with dynamics. We learned that we can make creative choices toward the captioning and audio description, that we could relate to them directly. So while those services make the plays inclusive, they also have the potential to inform and enhance what's going on. We're eager to discover these new ways of making Neo-Futurism live and in the moment."

Too Much Light comes to Victory Gardens Theater

The Neo-Futurists take their flagship show Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind to Victory Gardens' Za?ek McVay Theatre, where performers and audience members are invited to engage with a full spectrum of accommodation services. In addition, Neo-Futurist teaching artists are leading a ten-week session of the popular Intro to Too Much Light through Victory Gardens Theater's Artist Development Workshop. These workshops and performances are supported by a grants from The Chicago Community Trust and Alphawood Foundation Chicago.

The Victory Gardens Access Project is a nationally recognized model outreach effort designed to involve all people in theater, both on and off the stage. The program provides audio description, closed captioning, touch tours, American Sign Language interpreters, and Braille programs, in addition to a space that is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition to these resources, The Victory Gardens Access Project hosts The Artist Development Workshop, a playwriting program designed to accommodate artists and writers with and without disabilities.

Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind at Victory Gardens Theater (2433 N. Lincoln Ave.)

Saturday, May 7th at 7:30pm in the Za?ek McVay Theatre

Touch Tour begins at 6:00 p.m.

Tickets: $4 plus the roll of a six-sided die ($5-10)

Information: http://neofuturists.org/events/too-much-light-makes-the-baby-go-blind-at-victory-gardens/

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