ANDERSONVILLE — "Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind," known as one of the longest-running plays in Chicago since its launch in 1988, will not be renewed at the end of the year.
In an emailed news release Wednesday, Neo-Futurist's founder Greg Allen announced he would revoke the Chicago company's right to perform "Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind," but will relaunch it himself with more of an activist spin, TimeOut Chicago first reported.
“Faced with the pending inauguration of Donald J. Trump, Allen has decided to let the existing Chicago Neo-Futurists’ license come to an end so that he can rebrand the show with a new diverse ensemble that embraces a specifically socially activist mission," the news release said.
The sketch-style production features 30 plays in 60 minutes with scripts changing every week. While the ensemble, which performs at the Neo-Futurarium at 5153 N. Ashland Ave., will no longer be able to perform the production, ensembles in New York, San Francisco and London will not be affected by the change.
Allen left the Chicago group in 2003, and his title was changed to founding director, according to TimeOut Chicago.
The new ensemble “will be comprised entirely of people of color, LBTQ+, artist/activist women, and other disenfranchised voices in order to combat the tyranny of censorship and oppression,” the release said.
“I could no longer stand by and let my most effective artistic vehicle be anything but a machine to fight fascism," Allen said in the release.
The Chicago ensemble said Wednesday it was surprised the announcement was made independently and without collaboration with its board and staff.
"For the past year, the company entered into negotiations in good faith about continuing this facet of our work together. While we are disappointed that it has come to this conclusion, throughout our long history with Greg there have been considerable artistic differences and irreconcilable personal conflicts," an email from Kurt Chiang, the ensemble's artistic director, said.
The company plans to move forward with the support of its board of directors and commitment of its "talented and diverse staff," Chiang wrote.
"The Neo-Futurists will continue to produce new work for the Chicago community, just as we have for the past 28 years. We look forward to opening a new late-night show in the new year and renewing our mission as Neo-Futurists: to create art that embraces those unreached or unmoved by conventional theater — inspiring them to thought, feeling and action," Chiang said.
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