Take one part Upright Citizen's Brigade's sense of humor, one part Bowery Poetry Club's way with words, two six sided die, one large timer and add a healthy dollop of audience participation and a sprinkling of East Village grit and charm.  Shake throroughly and deposit onto the stage of the Kraine Theater on E. 4th Street every Friday and Saturday night 10:30pm, and you've got a potent cocktail known as Two Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. This rag-tag bunch of writers and perfomers who call themselves the New York Neo-Futurists perform the amazing, though somewhat masochistic and Sisyphean, task of attempting to perform 30 plays in 60 minutes every weekend. The plays are all written by different members of the group, involve one, some or all of them and range in topic from gay marriage, to how to win at tag, to the social anxiety of trying to decide whether or not to give someone a handshake or a hug upon greeting them. They are by turns absurd, funny, poignant, political, and can involve nothing but a girl in a spotlight or props, lights, and sound cues galore. But one thing they all share is an infectious energy - perhaps motived by the giant ticking clock stage left - as they try to complete all 30 plays on that week's menu in one short hour. The audience decides the order of the plays by shouting the number from a list handed out in the beginning (get your lungs ready to do some work if you want to see a particular one). I know it all sounds rather chaotic, but somehow it happens every Friday and Saturday night without anyone getting hurt - well, seriously hurt anyway.

The cast and plays rotate weekly.  At the end of the show, an audience member rolls a die to see how many new plays will be in the show the following week. As they like to say "If you seen the show once, you've seen the show once!" Cost is anywhere from $11 - 16 depending on your luck - everyone pays $10 + the roll of a die.  Times being what they are, this is some serious bang for your buck and a great, cheap intro to the East Village theater scene. More established groups like La Mama and The New York Theater Workshop share the East 4th Street Address, but Too Much Light is assuredly the most fun kid on the block. 

Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind

Every Friday and Saturday night at 10:30pm

The Kraine Theater

85 East Fourth Street, btw. Second & Bowery

Tix $11-16

nyneofuturists.org