In a unique concept for their annual Spring play, Becker High School’s drama department held a show consisting of 30 plays in 60 minutes for audiences of 125 people per performance.

 

The play was titled, “Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind” (TMLMTBGB) and was directed by Joe Rand.

 

During the four performances over last weekend, the audience members were seated on stage in a u-shape around a raised platform that acted as the stage. The audience was given instructions on how the show would transpire and they were also asked to scream out one of the individual play’s numbers after each curtain call to spark the new skits.

 

As stated in last month’s article, some of the 30 skits were original ideas written by Rand’s student-actors. When a number was proclaimed, the actors involved in that short skit jumped out of their chairs and raced to their spots on the stage as a large clock projected on the wall showed the time tick away on the 60 minute production.

 

Several of the topics of the skits were adult-based, which included some political topics, social topics and taboo topics — and a few swear words (gulp).

 

The audience at the Sunday afternoon production appeared captivated by the performances as some were asked questions by the performers or singled out to take part in the fast-moving skits. Raucous laughter and resounding clapping — along with the yelling out of numbers — made the intimate setting on stage a personal experience for the spectators.

 

The acting was superb and rarely did a student flub a line or forget the words and most of the young thespians glowed with pride and had beaming smiles following each skit.

 

TMLMTBGB was the longest running show in Chicago and the only open-run, off-off-Broadway show in New York. Starting in 1988, the show in Chicago ran 50 weekends of the year until the end of 2016 and was written, directed, and performed by a small ensemble called the Neo-Futurists.

 

TMLMTBGB and the Neo-Futurists are both creations of founder Greg Allen, who 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 Allen was creating this show, the saying came back to his mind.