The New York Neo-Futurist's & "The Infinite Wrench"

Theatre:
Event Type
Date(s)
Friday, August 26, 7PM & 10PM
Cost
$30
Address

8641 Colesville Road
Silver Spring, MD 20910
United States

The Neo-Futurists are a multi-city institution of modern theater - with companies in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and London, they’ve been bringing their particular brand of devised creation, inspired by the Italian Futurist movement of the 20th Century, to stages across the country since 1988, when they began with the much-acclaimed Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. This production was a groundbreaking work that helped to establish the tenets of Neo-Futurism: there is no suspension of disbelief from the audience or performers - they are all in a room together, in the present, experiencing the creation of stories in tandem. The topics of TMLMTBGB varied: comedy, satire, politics, surrealism, poetry, drama. And all stories existed in 2 minutes or less, filling a total hour of time.

The Neo-Futurist’s founder, Greg Allen, revoked the rights of the companies to produce TMLMTBGB in 2016, expressing the hope that he, long separated from the Neos, might exclusively use it to combat the political upheaval of the 2016 election. To replace this flagship production, the Neos have created, as is their style, something new: The Infinite Wrench.

“The Infinite Wrench is a barrage of 30 short plays the cast attempts to perform within a single hour. Each play offers something different, be it funny, profound, elegant, disgusting, topical, irrelevant, terrifying, or a song. All are truthful and tackle the here-and-now, inspired by the lived experiences of the performers. With new plays every week, The Infinite Wrench is the Neo-Futurists’ ongoing and ever-changing attempt to shift the conventions of live performance and speak to audiences including those unreached or unmoved by traditional theater.” - The NY Neo-Futurist’s Website

The piece, currently running weekly in all four cities with Neos in residence, exemplifies the first of the Neo’s statement of purpose: “We believe in creating art under four tenets: we are who we are, we are where we are, we are doing what we are doing, and the time is now."