Wolly Mammoth Returns TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces the return of Chicago's long-running late-night sensation TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND (30 Plays in 60 Minutes) by The Neo-Futurists following two sold-out runs at the theatre. Performances run December 15, 2008 thru January 4, 2009 with one Pay-What-You-Can performance on Monday, December 15 at 8pm. PRESS MAY ATTEND EITHER MONDAY, DECEMBER 15 or TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16 AT 8PM.

Since the plays in TOO MUCH LIGHT... are only performed by the cast members who have created them, this engagement will include all new material. And with two Neo-Futurists casts, there will be even more plays presented. Additionally, performances will be peppered with a few holiday-tinged pieces mixed in with the usual Neo-Futurists fare.

December 15 - 21 cast: Mary Fons, Sharon Greene, Jacquelyn Landgraf, John Pierson, Jay Torrence
December 26 - January 4 cast: Kurt Chiang, Bilal Dardai, John Pierson, Heather Riordan, Caitlin Stainken

Synopsis: An underground Chicago favorite, this long-running late-night hit returns to Woolly with brand new material. The eccentric Neo-Futurists race against the clock to perform 30 miniature plays in 60 breathless minutes -- plays ranging from zany to risqué to profound. And with audiences deciding on the random order of those plays, every performance is a unique experience not to be missed. "HYPERKINETIC, CONSCIOUSNESS-EXPANDING BRILLIANCE. They're fearless. They're tireless. They're honest" (DCist.com). "A no-holds-barred jujitsu squad deconstructing a sheaf of Beckett plays with help from Stephen Colbert." (Washington Post).

TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND (30 Plays in 60 Minutes) is created by Greg Allen, and written, directed and performed by The Neo-Futurists. The Neo-Futurists are creators of over 60 other original, full-length productions, are a collective of wildly productive writer/director/performers who create immediate, non-illusory, interactive and head slappingly affordable performances. From their theater above a Chicago funeral home, The Neo-Futurists have toured from San Francisco to Romania, won the coveted Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival, taught Artistic Residencies based on their unique performance aesthetic at theaters such as Actors Theater of Louisville and Universities around the country. Their acclaimed play 43 Plays for 43 Presidents was performed for President Jimmy Carter (he liked it!). To learn more about The Neo-Futurists, get books and podcasts of their plays or see what they are making next head to www.neofuturists.org.

TOO MUCH LIGHT... opened at Stage Left Theater in 1988 in Chicago promising an emotional and intellectual roller-coaster of ideas and images ridden at break-neck speed by a participating audience. Greg Allen created the formula for the show from an amalgam of different influences. In typical postmodern fashion, a theory was borrowed from here; a form was stolen from there. From their namesakes, the Italian Futurists, came the exultation of speed, brevity, compression, dynamism and the explosion of preconceived notions. From Dada and Surrealism came the joy of randomness and the thrill of the unconscious. From the theatrical experiments of the 1960's came audience interaction, breaking down all notions of distance, character, setting, and illusion. Finally, from the political turmoil of the 1980's came a socially conscious voice and a low-tech, "poor theater" format. This aesthetic, embraced by an ensemble of highly dedicated, talented writer/performers, became TOO MUCH LIGHT....

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: December 15, 2008 - January 4, 2009

TICKET PRICES: All tickets are $30, except:

- Dec. 15 is Pay-What-You-Can. Tickets sold at 6:30pm, two per person, cash/check only.

- Dec. 31 show is $50 (includes midnight champagne toast, one hour open bar (beer & wine) and light appetizers).

Available online at www.woollymammoth.net or by phone at 202-393-3939.

Woolly Mammoth is located at 641 D Street, NW (7th & D) in the heart of the Penn Quarter neighborhood. Accessible by Archives or Gallery Place Metro stations. Parking is available at InterPark Garage for $10 (mention Woolly Mammoth) across D Street from theatre entrance.

Now in its 29th Season, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company continues to hold its place at theatre's leading edge. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz and Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann, Woolly Mammoth is acknowledged as "The hottest theatre company in town" (Washington Post), "known for its productions of innovative new plays" (The New York Times), as a regional and national leader in the development of new plays, and as one of the best known and most influential small theatres in America. Woolly Mammoth has gained this reputation by holding fast to its unique mission...to ignite an explosive engagement between theatre artists and the community by developing, producing and promoting new plays that explore the edges of theatrical style and human experience, and by implementing new ways to use the artistry of theatre to serve the people of Greater Washington, DC.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is a member of the National New Play Network, Theatre Communications Group, The League of Washington Theatres, and The Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, and a participant in the A-ha! Program: Think it, Do it, funded by MetLife and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American theatre. The Theatre's programs are supported in part by The National Endowment for the Arts, the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Program/United States Commission of Fine Arts.

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