The Neo-Futurist Theater will bring its experimental weekly show, “The Infinite Wrench,” to different Chicago neighborhoods this weekend as part of a special 312 Day event.
The performance features 30 original plays in 60 minutes, with each play lasting about two minutes. The pieces draw from real stories in the lives of the performers, according to Annie Share, associate artistic director and co-producer of the show alongside ensemble member Andres Coronado.
For this local tour, the Neo-Futurists are partnering with UrbanTheater Company in Humboldt Park and Pilsen Community Books to host pop-up shows outside their usual Andersonville venue. Performances are scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday at UrbanTheater Company (2620 W. Division St.), 7:30 p.m. March 11 at Pilsen Community Books (1531 W. 18th St.), and 7:30 p.m. March 12 at The Neo-Futurarium (5153 N. Ashland Ave.).
Tickets are available online.
Throughout the year, the Neo-Futurists produce themed shows for occasions such as Halloween, New Year’s Eve, and Pride Month, often collaborating with other organizations like Free Street Theater in Bucktown, Hyde Park Art Center, and Theatre Y in North Lawndale. However, these have typically been one-time events.
“This is their first time taking a themed performance across the city ‘and doing a mini local tour,’” Share said.
“We’re really excited about making it more of an event [and] making it all be about Chicago,” Share said.
Share noted that after reaching out across the city, they were pleased to work with UrbanTheater Company and Pilsen Community Books. She described UrbanTheater’s space as a good fit for their style and expressed enthusiasm about using Pilsen Community Book’s new event space on 18th Street.
“We wanted to make sure that we were partnering with theaters or organizations whose missions aligned with us, and we wanted to do the show in all different parts of the city,” Share said.
Each location will also feature openers from its neighborhood.
In recent years, the company has held one special spring show; last year’s was cannabis-themed for 4/20. This year’s choice of a 312 Day edition is intended to unite people through art.
“Chicago is our home,” Share said. “The Neo-Futurists were founded in 1988. We’ve been doing this work for nearly 40 years, and there have been over 13,400 2-minute plays in the company’s history. So we’re really excited to get show more people some of those plays in neighborhoods that are far from our own.”
Ensemble member Emma Casey described the goal of performing so many short plays: “to reflect all of humanity in 60 minutes.”
“Which is an impossible goal,” Share added. “Some of the plays will be funny, some of them are serious, some of them are abstract. But the thing that binds them all is that they’re true. We don’t play characters on our stage. We tell true stories from our real lives, but the range of emotions or experiences is wild.”
Share encouraged audiences to come prepared for anything and reminded them that regular performances continue every weekend in Andersonville if they cannot attend these special shows.
