The Neo-Futurists present The Arrow and announce Chiang as AD

The Neo-Futurists continue their dedication to collaborative creation and experimental structure as they launch the first performance of The Arrow workshop series. Also, Kurt Chiang takes on full Artistic Director duties.

The Arrow Quits Smoking

Created by Kurt Chiang and Lily Mooney

Thursday, November 19 at 8:00 p.m.

The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N Ashland Ave

Tickets are $15

Tickets and info: www.neofuturists.org or call 773-275-5255

The Arrow is a quarterly storytelling show that subjects written essays to spontaneous interventions. In each performance, an ensemble of writer-performers will question, interrupt, and add to each other's work, pushing beyond their first creations in search of something else: something more honest and more live.

In its first iteration, The Arrow Quits Smoking, the show presents six original essays and a can(n)on of experimental plays that discuss, among other things: atheism, willpower, J.J. Abrams, brownies, Netflix, the notion of the Self, scoliosis, and love. Featuring the work of Neil Bhandari, Annabel Lang, Mary Cait Walthall, Brian Whitney, as well as Chiang and Mooney, The Arrow Quits Smoking happens for one night only: November 19th at 8:00 p.m.

Creator Lily Mooney states, "Making The Arrow has been an artistically exciting experience. We're mashing up different forms of theatrical expression - essay readings, short plays and improvised moments - in an experience that is highly collaborative. The show pulls disparate narratives and themes together into one collaged, surreal performance script, which doesn't tell one story, but creates a singular experience for the audience. In The Arrow, the time and space for each performer is not segmented, but actively negotiated and shared. It leads to genuine conflict and true common ground that we wouldn't have found if we hadn't committed to challenging each other, both in the process and the performance."

Kurt Chiang is Artistic Director and an Ensemble Member with The Neo-Futurists. Since 2008 he has written over 200 plays within the show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: 30 Plays In 60 Minutes. As a writer, director, performer and deviser, Chiang has worked on many other Neo-Futurist productions, including: Saturn Returns (lead deviser/writer/performer), Mike Mother (deviser), Analog (creator/writer), Haymaker (director), BEER! The Musical, Burning Bluebeard, The Fool (Returns To His Chair). Currently he is producing the recurring storytelling show The Arrow in collaboration with Neo-Futurist Ensemble Member Lily Mooney. He writes, performs, and teaches in Chicago.

Lily Mooney has been an Ensemble member of The Neo-Futurists and performed regularly in Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind since January of 2013. Her work has been developed and produced in Chicago, Boston, and New York.

Kurt Chiang as Artistic Director

Having served as Co-Artistic Director alongside Bilal Dardai since 2014, Kurt Chiang takes on full Artistic Director duties for The Neo-Futurists. In this new role, Chiang supports the Ensemble of 12 and continues to lead the company's commitment to interactive, immediate new works.

"The primary reason I've spent seven years of my professional and artistic life with our company is due The Neo-Futurists' commitment to collaborative practice," states Chiang. "That practice is embedded in our art, as well as our business model. What we make, how we make it, how it's brought to our audience: all of that is guided by our team's kaleidoscopic vision of what art and performance can be. It's awesome. I love working here, and I love the stuff we make. And I'm thrilled to continue to help champion both the big ideas of our staff and the relentlessly ground-breaking work of our Neo-Futurist Ensemble.

Co-Artistic Director Bilal Dardai, serving since 2012 alongside former Co-Artistic Director Megan Mercier and since 2014 with Chiang, steps down to pursue other projects within the Neo-Futurist Ensemble and in collaborations outside the organization.

"The Neo-Futurists are lucky to have artists like Bilal and Kurt- their relentless energy, honesty, and artistry is what drives our company and makes the growth of the upcoming season possible," Managing Director Kendall Karg states. "Kurt understands the heartbeat of the art that is created here every day and tirelessly works to protect and embody our artists' values. We're thrilled Kurt will continue to build this vision by taking on the role of Artistic Director."

THE NEO-FUTURISTS

The Neo-Futurists, performers of Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind and creators of over 60 other original, full-length productions, are a collective of wildly productive writer/director/performers who create immediate, non-illusory, interactive performance presented at head-slappingly affordable prices.

The Neo-Futurists are partially supported by The Alphawood Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, and The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.