Blackfriars’ ‘Too Much Light’ has laughs, energy, and some cringe | Theater

A timer projected on the wall and brightly-coloured sheets of paper strung on a clothesline throughout the stage greet the audience at Blackfriars Theatre for its production of “Too Much Light Makes the Toddler Go Blind.” The sheets incorporate numbers, each individual corresponding to a play that will be carried out throughout the display.

The premise of “Too A lot Gentle,” which runs as a result of Feb. 13, is this: 30 micro-performs in 60 minutes. The performs are scripted, but the order in which they are performed is not. The viewers reads from a menu of plays and calls out the variety of the a person they’d like to see upcoming, giving the exhibit the “anything can happen” strength of a night of improv.

Because its inception in 1988 by Greg Allen and the Neo-Futurists, a Chicago-centered collective of writers and performers, this play has been greatly produced nationally and its cultural affect has transcended theater. It even motivated a “This American Life” episode in 2003.

Irrespective of whether you’re a longtime enthusiast of the display or are just curious to encounter it, Blackfriars offers a solid output. Kerry Young’s direction stays faithful to the quickly-paced, very well-structured chaotic spirit of the piece, and the solid customers create a bash-like environment via their amiability and enthusiasm.

The actors adhere to the Neo-Futurists’ ethos of approaching the evening with “absolute honesty,” heading by their serious names as they race as a result of each and every participate in with the help of the audience. As a heads up, audience participation doesn’t usually sense optional, primarily if you have an aisle seat.

What are these brief plays about? With the caveat that different parts will be presented each individual night time, some recurring topics from the opening night time clearly show involve heterosexual conflict, violence, comedic gags, riffs on cultural references like Shakespeare, and self-informed jokes about creating theatre. There were being very a large amount of people.

Even though these parts have to have felt fresh new in the late 1980s, the crafting leaves much to be wished-for when executed in an Net age that has mastered the art of 15-second leisure. The innovation, humor, and social commentary of TikTok sets a significant bar that most of these performs don’t meet.

Some of the plays did amuse — shout out to “Poultrygeist” — but several of the performs felt like novice creating workouts or even worse, dated. The inclusion of “Flammable Pants” felt specifically disappointing for 2022. The piece asks the viewers to be sincere about certain factors that are implied to be shameful or uncomfortable, such as human ordeals that activists have used decades seeking to de-stigmatize, this sort of as remaining gay or having difficulties with mental health.

Due to the fact the order is random, but brains like designs, the viewers will the natural way search for meaning in what they see. This can be exciting, due to the fact it implies an audience member will have a fully different experience than their neighbor. Given that I’m a geek for narrative structure, I appreciated that “Zenith” obtained preferred all around the time in the evening when a story’s climax would normally come about. Regular men and women in all probability would not treatment.

The randomized buy can also be a detriment, although. “Memorial Working day,” a piece that decries gun violence, appeared to be test to present somber social commentary. But it obtained laughs from an viewers that was primed for a participate in as silly as its predecessors. The glib “How to War,” which depends on traumatic illustrations or photos for shock value, felt exploitative as it rapidly dismissed genuine earth tragedies to transfer on to the following play.

The evening was redeemed by the charisma and camaraderie of the forged. Each and every actor in the ensemble of 12 brought one thing special and worthwhile to the demonstrate. In a quick amount of time, they conveyed their personality by means of their garments, impact, and physicality.

At the end of each present, an viewers member rolls a die to decide how a lot of performs from that night’s general performance will be swapped out with other individuals from the “Too Substantially Light” repertoire for the adhering to night’s efficiency.

The 30 performs that get presented could be hits or misses, but the actors performing them are a joy to look at and, luckily, that doesn’t alter every single night time.

Katherine Varga is a freelance author for Metropolis. Opinions on this short article can be directed to Daniel J. Kushner, CITY’s arts editor, at [email protected].