[2015074] Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind: 30 Plays in 60 Minutes
The Neo-Futurists @ Garden of Unearthly Delights – Le Cascadeur
6:55pm, Tue 24 Feb 2015
I love performances that are composed of lots of little vignettes; the amazing (and always different) 52 Pick Up is my favourite such show. But whilst that show has a fixed script, delivered in a random order, Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind ups the ante a little: a random order, sure, but the thirty plays themselves are sourced from a much bigger pool… and many are freshly written.
Upon entry, the packed house was given a programme containing details of the performers, et al… but also, more importantly, the list of all the plays for the evening (or, rather, the “Menu for 24 & 25 February, 2015”). The numbers one to twenty-nine hung on sheets of paper over the stage, ready to be torn down when performed; the thirtieth play, we were informed, would only be performed if there was enough time. And then, with much of the audience yelling out their favourite numbers as a direction for the next play, they were off.
The cast of five hurtled through the plays, but with titles like “Variations on how it could go”, as short as “dervish”, or as ridiculously long as “If you and I met tonight and this hug sealed our fate even if just for a moment and we would be together in something so real you and I and all of our friends growing, changing, and evolving into something more, something that we cannot grasp just yet but it is there it is here and it is so CLOSE SO CLOSE JUST STOP AND FEEL IT FOR A MOMENT”, there’s no real idea what to expect. They are simply vignettes, well performed (usually for laughs), and sometimes with audience interaction: the long title above required audience members to hug the cast. I was anxious to not waste time – I wanted to see play thirty! – so as soon as I realised what was required, I leapt out of my seat to hug the performer… only to realise that he was way taller than me, and the hug was a little… awkward. In addition, “This or That” was a cracking little piece of wordplay, and “The Grapes of Wrath” was also a winner.
In the end, we ran out of time: our audience didn’t get to see the thirtieth play. And I was a little bit miffed about that… but still left with an overwhelmingly positive feeling in my heart for Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind. Some solid writing is more-than-backed-up by some incredibly enthusiastic performers, leading to a uniquely entertaining experience.
(Side note: as the crowd was squeezing into Le Cascadeur, my Korean acquaintance from the previous week tapped me on the shoulder and gave me a copy Hi Seoul Festival programme… which looked magnificent. Thanks!)
(74) Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind: Fantastic range of theatrics. Still feel a little ripped off at missing #30. #ff2015 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) February 24, 2015