ANDERSONVILLE — What's the line between activism and self-serving opportunism? The Neo-Futurists' latest play "Pseudo-Chum" aims to answer that crucial question when it opens in Andersonville next month.
The play, scheduled for an Oct. 20 debut at the Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland Ave., is best explained as "three plays-within-a-play," that explore the rehearsal and production of a play as well as an interview with the imaginary playwright behind it, according to a release from the Neo-Futurists.
The performance part centers on a play titled "Chum," which is about a shark-fishing family that is lost at sea and "struggling over the impending death of the patriarch."
The rehearsal portion "shows the true nature of the actors who will sell their souls in exchange for success. Fame, like chum, attracts the sharks," the release said.
The part focused on the playwright, dubbed "The Interview," in the release, examines the person behind "Chum" who penned it as an act of protest against "the government-sanctioned systematic destruction of sharks along the coast of Australia."
"Is the playwright a bold activist or a shark-like opportunist?" the release questions. "Or is he just a high functioning alcoholic spiraling into an abyss?"
Co-creator and co-director Sean Benjamin, who also plays the playwright, said "Pseudo-Chum" was inspired by the idea that "in life and in art we are sometimes the shark and sometimes the chum, mostly both at the same time."
"This play is a heightened version of my life," he said, "though, sadly, it didn't have to be heightened much."
The show runs through Nov. 29. For more information and tickets, click here.
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