The Neo-Futurists' TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND Returns to Woolly 12/7-1/2/2010

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company continues Season 30 with the return of our Chicago friends The Neo-Futurists with their long-running late-night sensation TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND (30 Plays in 60 Minutes) following three sold-out runs at the theatre in 2008 and 2009. Performances run December 7, 2009 thru January 2, 2009 with one Pay-What-You-Can performance on Monday, December 7 at 8pm. PRESS MAY ATTEND EITHER TUES, DECEMBER 8 or WED, DECEMBER 9 AT 8PM.

Since the plays in TOO MUCH LIGHT... are only performed by the cast members who have created them, this engagement will include all new material. And with two Neo-Futurists casts, there will be even more plays presented. Plus there may be a few holiday-tinged pieces mixed in with the usual Neo-Futurists fare.
December 7 - 19 cast: Eliza Burmester, Bilal Dardai, Mary Fons-Misetic, Chloe Johnston, Jay Torrence
December 22 - January 2 cast: Bilal Dardai, Mary Fons-Misetic, John Pierson, Jay Torrence, Kristie Vuocolo

Synopsis: The Neo-Futurists return to Woolly with a brand new set of 30 mini plays performed in a dizzying 60-minute race against the clock. In this long-running late-night sensation from Chicago, you never know what's coming next. But you know it features the Neo's signature performance style with a zany mix of heady and ridiculous subject matter. The perfect holiday treat for DC's savvy audiences, every performance of TMLMTBGB is a unique experience not to be missed. "HYPERKINETIC, CONSCIOUSNESS-EXPANDING BRILLIANCE. They're fearless. They're tireless. They're honest" (DCist.com). "A no-holds-barred jujitsu squad deconstructing a sheaf of Beckett plays with help from Stephen Colbert." (Washington Post).
TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND (30 Plays in 60 Minutes) is created by Greg Allen, and written, directed and performed by The Neo-Futurists. The Neo-Futurists are creators of over 60 other original, full-length productions, are a collective of wildly productive writer/director/performers who create immediate, non-illusory, interactive and head slappingly affordable performances. From their theater above a Chicago funeral home, The Neo-Futurists have toured from San Francisco to Romania, won the coveted Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival, taught Artistic Residencies based on their unique performance aesthetic at theaters such as Actors Theater of Louisville and Universities around the country. Their acclaimed play 43 Plays for 43 Presidents was performed for President Jimmy Carter (he liked it!). To learn more about The Neo-Futurists, get books and podcasts of their plays or see what they are making next head to www.neofuturists.org.

TOO MUCH LIGHT... opened at Stage Left Theater in 1988 in Chicago promising an emotional and intellectual roller-coaster of ideas and images ridden at break-neck speed by a participating audience. Greg Allen created the formula for the show from an amalgam of different influences. In typical postmodern fashion, a theory was borrowed from here; a form was stolen from there. From their namesakes, the Italian Futurists, came the exultation of speed, brevity, compression, dynamism and the explosion of preconceived notions. From Dada and Surrealism came the joy of randomness and the thrill of the unconscious. From the theatrical experiments of the 1960's came audience interaction, breaking down all notions of distance, character, setting, and illusion. Finally, from the political turmoil of the 1980's came a socially conscious voice and a low-tech, "poor theater" format. This aesthetic, embraced by an ensemble of highly dedicated, talented writer/performers, became TOO MUCH LIGHT....

TICKET PRICES: All tickets are $30, except:

? Mon., Dec. 7 8pm show is Pay-What-You-Can. Tickets sold at 6:30pm, two per person, cash/check only.

? Thurs., Dec. 31 10:30pm New Year's Eve show is $75 (including after-show events TBA).

Available online at www.woollymammoth.net or by phone at 202-393-3939.
Woolly Mammoth is located at 641 D Street, NW (7th & D) in the heart of the Penn Quarter neighborhood. Accessible by Archives or Gallery Place Metro stations. Parking is available at InterPark Garage for $10 (mention Woolly Mammoth) across D Street from theatre entrance.
Now in Season 30, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company continues to hold its place at theatre's leading edge. Acknowledged as "The hottest theatre company in town" (Washington Post), "known for its productions of innovative new plays" (The New York Times), Woolly Mammoth is a regional and national leader in the development of new plays, and one of the best known and most influentiAl Small theatres in America. The Company garnered this reputation by holding fast to its unique mission:
...to ignite an explosive engagement between theatre artists and the community by developing, producing and promoting new plays that explore The Edges of theatrical style and human experience, and by implementing new ways to use the artistry of theatre to serve the people of Greater Washington, DC.
Currently under the leadership of Artistic Director/Co-Founder Howard Shalwitz and Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann, Woolly Mammoth is a member of the National New Play Network, Theatre Communications Group, The League of Washington Theatres, and The Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, and a participant in the A-ha! Program: Think it, Do it, funded by MetLife and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American theatre. The Theatre's programs are supported in part by The National Endowment for the Arts, the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Program/United States Commission of Fine Arts, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.