View source for Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind

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'''''Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: 30 Plays in 60 Minutes''''' (Too Much Light or TML) was the longest running show in the history of theater in [[Chicago]]<ref name="chicagotheaterbeat1">{{cite web|author=Scotty Zacher |url=http://chicagotheaterbeat.com/2010/03/30/too-much-light-makes-the-baby-go-blind/ |title=REVIEW: Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (Neo-Futurists) |publisher=Chicago Theater Beat |date=2010-03-30 |access-date=2016-12-02}}</ref> and was the only open-run [[Off-Off-Broadway]] show in New York.<ref name="nytimes1">{{cite news|last=Collins |first=Laura |url=https://www.nytimes.com/theater/show/23737/Too-Much-Light-Makes-the-Baby-Go-Blind/overview |title=Theater |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2016-12-02}}</ref> The show was originally performed by the [[Neo-Futurists]], an experimental theater troupe of which creator Greg Allen was a founding member. Opening in Chicago December 2, 1988, the show ran 50 weekends of the year through 2016.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/news/ct-greg-allen-too-much-light-neo-futurists-closing-20161130-story.html|title=Longtime favorite 'Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind' to end over dispute|last=Jones|first=Chris|newspaper=chicagotribune.com|access-date=2016-12-02}}</ref> As its subtitle states, the show consists of 30 original short plays performed in 60 minutes. All were written, directed, and performed by an ensemble. The plays tend to be a mixture of autobiography, [[performance art]], and living newspaper.

==History==
[[Neo-Futurism]] as an aesthetic, as well as the format of TML, are both creations of Neo-Futurist Founding Director Greg Allen. The [[Neo-Futurism]] aesthetic is an updating of the early 20th century Italian [[Futurism]] movement with hefty doses of Fluxus, Dada, Surrealism, Brecht, Boal, and performance art thrown in.<ref>{{cite news|last=Levitt |first=Aimee |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/neofuturists-tml-twenty-five-years-history-anniversary/Content?oid=11871597 |title=Too Much Light at 25: An oral history &#124; Performing Arts Feature |newspaper=[[Chicago Reader]] |access-date=2016-12-02}}</ref> Greg Allen came up with the name from a case study of a young autistic child who would smash light bulbs and repeat, "Too much light makes the baby go blind.  Too much light makes the baby go blind." Later, when he was creating this show, the saying came back to his mind.

Subsequent productions were staged by branches of the Neo-Futurists in New York (1995-1998, 2004-2016), San Francisco (2013-2016), and Montreal (2007-2012).<ref name="nytimes1"/> A London production was staged in 2016 as part of plans for a permanent UK-based ensemble.<ref>{{cite web |title=Degenerate Fox |url=https://degeneratefox.co.uk/ |website=Degenerate Fox |access-date=4 September 2022}}</ref>

From 1990 to 2014, numerous volumes of plays from the show have been published. The book "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: 90 Plays from the First 25 Years" published by Playscripts has been produced all over the world with over 100 productions a year.

In November 2016, Allen revoked the Chicago Neo-Futurists' rights to perform ''Too Much Light'' in a public announcement.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment/too-much-light-creator-yanks-show-from-neo-futurists/|title='Too Much Light' creator yanks show from Chicago Neo-Futurists|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|access-date=2016-12-02}}</ref> Allen's revocation of the performance rights did not extend to the New York, San Francisco, and London branches of the Neo-Futurists.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vire |first1=Kris |title=Greg Allen pulls 'Too Much Light' from Chicago's Neo-Futurists |url=https://www.timeout.com/chicago/blog/greg-allen-pulls-too-much-light-from-chicagos-neo-futurists-113016 |website=TimeOut |access-date=5 September 2022}}</ref> However, in solidarity with the Chicago branch, the New York and San Francisco branches ended their runs of ''Too Much Light''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/SF-Neo-Futurists-win-race-even-if-they-don-t-9126879.php|title=SF Neo-Futurists win race even if they don't finish|newspaper=SFGate|access-date=2016-12-03}}</ref> All three ensembles continue to develop and perform their own two-minute plays in a late night show called ''The Infinite Wrench'', which premiered in 2017, while the London ensemble Degenerate Fox performs the similar show ''The Dirty Thirty''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/news/ct-new-late-night-show-neo-futurists-20170228-story.html|title=New late-night show gets its name at Neo-Futurists|last=Greene|first=Morgan|newspaper=chicagotribune.com|access-date=2017-02-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Degenerate Fox Theatre Presents THE DIRTY THIRTY Next Month |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/uk-regional/article/Degenerate-Fox-Theatre-Presents-THE-DIRTY-THIRTY-Next-Month-20171019 |website=BroadwayWorld |access-date=5 September 2022}}</ref>

Allen subsequently founded the Detroit-based UnTheatre Company, which currently continues to produce ''Too Much Light''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wild |first1=Stephi |title=UnTheatre Co Attempts 30 Plays In 60 Minutes In Southwest Detroit |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/michigan/article/UnTheatre-Co-Attempts-30-Plays-In-60-Minutes-In-Southwest-Detroit-20200104 |website=BroadwayWorld |access-date=4 September 2022}}</ref>

==Tone of the show==
The show is the work of the [[Neo-Futurism]] movement, a variant of the Italian [[Futurism]] movement <ref name="chicagotheaterbeat1"/> and reflects their aesthetic of non-illusory theater, where, as Allen states it, "all of our plays are 'set' on the stage in front of the audience. All of our 'characters' are ourselves... We do not aim to 'suspend the audience's disbelief' but to create a world where the stage is a continuation of daily life."

==Structure==
The structure of TML since 1988 has remained consistent: a random ticket price for the show is determined by the roll of a die with a fixed amount (currently $9 for the Detroit show) being added for each person. Upon payment, a member of the ensemble wearing noise-canceling headphones asks "What's your name?" of the audience member before giving them a name tag with an erroneous or approximate "name" on it.  Audience members are then given a "menu" of the play titles for that evening from which the plays are selected by audience members calling out their number - the first number heard by the ensemble being the play performed. Plays begin with the word "Go!" and end when a member of the cast calls "Curtain!"  Many of the plays contain elements of randomness and audience interaction. The list of plays is perpetually rotating. Every week between two and twelve plays (determined by two rolls of a die by someone in the audience) are removed from the "menu" and replaced with new plays, written and staged over the course of the week.

As part of an interactive tradition, when a particular evening sells out, the cast orders pizza from a local restaurant, allowing the audience to order toppings. "When we sell out, we order out!" Only a single pizza is ordered, however, which the entire audience must share.<ref>{{cite news|last=Levitt |first=Aimee |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/too-much-light-makes-the-baby-go-blind/Content?oid=876173 |title=Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind &#124; Performing Arts Review |newspaper=[[Chicago Reader]] |access-date=2016-12-02}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
Allen, Greg.  "Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind (30 Plays in 60 Minutes): 90 Plays from the First 25 Years".  New York: Playscripts, 2015.

Allen, Greg. ''100 Neo-Futurist Plays from Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind''. Chicago: Chicago Plays, 2002.

Radosavljevic, Duska.  "The Contemporary Ensemble: Interviews with Theatre-Makers".  London: Routledge, 2013.

==External links==
* [http://www.untheatreco.org UnTheatre Company website]
* [https://www.playscripts.com/play/2573#searchterm=Too%20Much%20LIght Publisher website]

[[Category:American plays]]
[[Category:Theatre in Chicago]]
[[Category:Futurist theatre]]
[[Category:1988 plays]]