The Neo-Futurists Welcome New Ensemble Members, Approach 10,000 Plays

The Neo-Futurists welcome five new members to the Ensemble: Neil Bhandari, Trent Creswell, Joanna Jamerson, Jasmine Henri Jordan and Connor Shioshita Pickett.

These new writer-director-performers are the first ensemble members to join the company since The Neo-Futurists launched their new late-night show The Infinite Wrench March 3, 2017. Beginning in the fall of 2017, the new members will join the cast of this ongoing and ever-changing late-night Neo-Futurist performance.

Tickets are available at the door, cash only, for $9 plus the roll of one six-sided die ($10-$15) with advance tickets available online at $20 with a $1-$6 cash rollback. For advance tickets or more information, visit neofuturists.org or call the box office at 773.878.4557.

About the new additions, Artistic Director and Ensemble Member Kurt Chiang says, "The Ensemble welcomes Neil, Trent, Joanna, Jasmine and Connor to our prolific group of artists, to carry on our tradition of providing a place for strong artists to work, learn and grow. We're confident that these new writer-director-performers will strengthen and challenge our particular aesthetic for years to come. I'm excited to see what they bring to the show and the organization."

The new members will add to the collective's collection of world-premiere plays, joining as the Ensemble approaches the milestone of 10,000 original works written and performed since 1988. After nearly three decades of rolling the dice to determine the number of new plays created each week, the group of artists has written 9,979 original world premieres as of July 18, 2017. When exactly will the 10,000th play be performed? As usual, The Neo-Futurists have left that up to chance.

"We usually place about six or seven new plays into the menu every Tuesday rehearsal, so maybe we'll reach 10,000 by August, " says Chiang. "When we'll actually barrel past this milestone is up to the roll of the dice. But reaching it is a testament to the 71 active and alumni Ensemble Members that haven't stopped writing and performing here since 1988."

ABOUT THE NEW ENSEMBLE MEMBERS:

Neil Bhandari is the lead vocalist and lyricist for the indie rock-and-roll bands Swearwords and Cries Tiger, in addition to founding I ATE THE SPIDER, a Chicago-based DIY lit zine and show. Recent theatrical credits include multiple stints in The Neo-Futurists' The Arrow and appearances in The Drinking and Writing Theater's monthly series Vs.

Trent Creswell is a founder of National Cool Theater where he directed The Football Play, Dick and Uncle Vanya. He performed in The Arrow Cracks and It Came from The Neo-Futurarium with The Neo-Futurists and works as a movement therapist specializing in the Feldenkrais method.

Joanna Jamerson was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. She studied film, photography and art at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and studied comedy, writing and improv with companies such as Second City Training Center. Jamerson hopes to use everything she's learned to become the "comedy art person" she's always wanted to be.

Jasmine Henri Jordan is a performer, writer and Gemini. She also creates performances with a collective called Hot Kitchen. Jordan is audience development manager at Victory Gardens Theater and received her BA in Theatre and Humanities from Florida State University. She is especially interested in creating work that critiques pop culture and makes messes.

Connor Shioshita Pickett is a writer, performer and educator from Phoenix, AZ. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh's Theatre Arts & Fiction Writing programs in 2014. Since then, his work has appeared onstage with American Theater Company, Bricolage Production Company, Headline Theater Project, The Whiskey Radio Hour and others. Pickett works as a freelance writer and blogs about baseball and revolution at Bat Left/Throw Left.

The Infinite Wrench
Open Run - Fridays and Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m.
The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland Ave. (at Foster)
At-the- door cash tickets are $9 plus the roll of a six-sided die; online pre-sales are available for $20 with a cash rollback at neofuturists.org or 773.275.5255.

The Infinite Wrench is The Neo-Futurists' mechanism for unleashing a barrage of two-minute plays for a live audience. Each week, the new plays offer something different for that audience-some are funny, others profound. Some are elegant, disgusting, topical, irrelevant, terrifying or put to song. All of the plays are truthful and tackle the here-and-now, inspired by the lives of the performers. The Infinite Wrench is The Neo-Futurists' ongoing and ever-changing late-night show, engaging those unreached or unmoved by other types of theater.

About The Neo-Futurists

The Neo-Futurists are a collective of writer-director-performers creating theater that is fusion of sport, poetry and living-newspaper. Originating over 9,979 plays within the newly launched The Infinite Wrench, 28 years of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, and over 65 full-length productions within their immediate, non-illusory aesthetic, The Neo-Futurists have grown to become one of the most highly regarded experimental theater companies in the United States. From humble beginnings as the first late-night theater production in Chicago, they launched what became Chicago's longest running show and today sustain multifaceted programs such as Neo-Access, The Kitchen (a micro-festival on art and performance), Prime Time, exchanges with branches in New York and San Francisco, Neo-Lab, and The Infinite Wrench, their flagship ongoing late-night show running 50 weekends every year. For more information visit www.neofuturists.org.

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