Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind

Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: 30 Plays in 60 Minutes (TMLMTBGB) is the longest running show in Chicago and the only open-run Off-Off-Broadway show in New York. Starting in 1988, the show ran 50 weekends of the year until the end of 2016. As its subtitle states, the show consists of 30 short plays performed in a 60-minute space, written, directed, and performed by a small ensemble called the Neo-Futurists. The plays tend to be a mixture of autobiography and performance art, as with much of the Neo-Futurists' work.

Neo-Futurism as an aesthetic, as well as the format of TMLMTBGB, are both creations of founder Greg Allen, although, due to the changing roster of plays in TMLMTBGB, Allen did not actually have a play in the show at all times during its run. In 2003, Allen ceased to be a member of the performing ensemble. The Neo-Futurism aesthetic is a variant of the early 20th century Italian Futurism movement. Greg Allen came up with the name from a young autistic child who would smash light bulbs and say, "Too much light makes the baby go blind". Later, when he was creating this show, the saying came back to his mind.

To date, three volumes of plays from the show have been published.

In November 2016, Allen revoked the Neo-Futurists' rights to perform TMLMTBGB in a surprise announcement.

On February 28th, 2017, The Neo-Futurists in Chicago, The San Francisco Neo-Futurists and the New York Neo-Futurists all launched an ongoing run of a new show titled The Infinite Wrench.

The show is the work of the Neo-Futurism movement, a variant of the Italian Futurism movement and reflects their aesthetic of non-illusory theater, where, as they describe it, "all of our plays are 'set' on the stage in front of the audience. All of our 'characters' are ourselves... We do not aim to 'suspend the audience's disbelief' but to create a world where the stage is a continuation of daily life" (Allen 3).

The ticket price for the show is random, with a fixed number (currently $9 for the Chicago show, $13 for the New York show, and $10 for the San Francisco show) being added to the roll of a six-sided die for each person. Upon payment, a member of the cast shouts "What's your name?" at the audience member before giving him or her a nametag with a random and unrelated "name". Audience members are given a "menu" of play titles, and plays are selected by audience members shouting their number, with the first number heard being the play performed. Many of the plays contain elements of randomness and audience interaction; plays end when a member of the cast shouts "curtain!"

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Wikipedia