The Neo-Futurists are not currently holding any auditions. (Please don't call us or contact us about auditions right now. We still love you though.) The Neo-Futurists hold auditions every couple of years. When we ARE holding auditions, here is:

Everything you need to know about Neo-Futurist auditions.

Choosing to apply

All ensemble members write and perform for TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND. There is pay, but don't quit your day job. We perform TMLMTBGB every Friday, Saturday at 11:30pm, and every Sunday at 7:00pm. Every other Sunday we have a 90 minute ensemble meeting after the show. We change 2-12 of our 30 plays every week, so there is a weekly writing and memorizing deadline. We rehearse every Tuesday starting at 7:00pm. I estimate the time per week (which varies widly) at 18 hours a week, not including writing and memorizing. We also have a season of 8:00pm "prime time" shows; participation in these shows is available after your first year in the ensemble and even then it is at your discretion. The Prime Time season gives ensemble members the chance to write, direct and perform other material besides TMLMTBGB.

It is a large commitment. We are looking for people interested in making The Neo-Futurists their artistic home for the next 4-5 years. The above schedules and requirements are non negotiable, so if you choose to audition please be prepared to make these commitments from the beginning.

About the Neo-Futurists and Neo-Futurism

The Neo-Futurists are an ensemble of artists who write, direct and perform their own work dedicated to social, political, and personal enlightenment in the form of audience participatory theater. These auditions are to find new ensemble members for the Neo-Futurists, and specifically TMLMTBGB, an ever-changing attempt to perform "30 plays in 60 minutes." Ensemble members are expected to write, direct and perform TMLMTBGB at least 40 of its 50 weeks in their first year of membership. This commitment includes becoming familiar with the Neo-Futurists aesthetic, writing new plays every week, proposing them to the ensemble at weekly rehearsals, haggling to get them into the show, directing and rehearsing them along with other ensemble members' plays, memorizing lines, and performing three nights a week. The ensemble meets on Tuesday nights from 7pm until about 10:30pm or so, and should be here at 9:30pm for Friday shows and 10:00pm on Saturday (they usually leave the theater around 1:30am after the show). Sundays, the ensemble meets at 6pm, and they have meetings every other week which usually go until around 10:30pm.

The ensemble also assumes responsibility for the care and upkeep of a 150 seat theater, including washing dishes, buying props, taking out the trash, and a plethora of other exciting tasks.

Ensemble members are also given an equal voice in many company decisions. Being cast from these auditions will mean joining a collectively run organization which uses consensus for many decisions and an elaborate committee structure. If cast, after an orientation period, you will have equal say in mounting other Neo-Futurist productions (which can be proposed, written, directed, and performed by any ensemble member), producing special events, performing at scheduled gigs, and going on tours.

Beyond the satisfaction of expressing your life on stage to over 400 people a week, each ensemble member will be paid bi-weekly. After 21 weeks of performance and a review process, the pay will increase by fifty percent, and after another 21 weeks, it will double the original amount. So there is a major commitment to be made.

Past ensemble members have found it extremely difficult to perform in other non-Neo-Futurist productions in their first year in the ensemble, much less get their laundry done. But we find the experience very fulfilling (and challenge, and fun), and we hope it sounds that way to you as well.

Neo-Futurism is an aesthetic based on the belief that if we break down the barriers of pretense, illusion, voyeurism, and predictability, we will live much richer lives. Hence, our theater is audience participatory, ever-changing, random, true, and in the here-and-now. All of our plays are "set" on the stage in front of an audience. All of our "characters" are ourselves. All of our stories really happened. All of our tasks are actual challenges. All of our performances are a roller coaster of the serious and comic, personal and political, experimental and conceptual. We create illusions to shatter them along with our audiences' expectations. We create chaos to embrace it and experience what we cannot "know." We create a room full of responsible individuals who hopefully will walk away from an unreproducible event with something that will inspire them to thought, feeling, and action.

Preparing for the audition

Before the audition, you'll need to prepare an original piece, UNDER 2 MINUTES, written by you and for you, that you feel would be appropriate for the show TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND. Familiarity with TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND is essential, if you have not seen the show, please wait to schedule your audition until after you have seen it. If you are strapped for cash and have never seen the show, we can make arrangements for you to attend a Sunday show for free. Just let us know.

Prepare a writing portfolio to submit. This portfolio should give us a sense of your skill as a writer. We strongly suggest that you submit additional short plays that you feel would be appropriate for the show TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND. In addition to the short plays (not in place of them) we will also accept other forms of writing samples (poetry, short stories, journal entries, full length plays, zines... basically anything you were the author on). Do not submit work written in collaboration or co-authored.

What to Bring to Your Audition

Come ready to perform your original 2 minute piece written by you and for you that would be appropriate for the show TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND, and additional writing samples are required. Any material submitted at the time of audition will not be returned.You will also need to bring a headshot/resume (or just a current picture and resume, if you don't have a headshot).

During the audition you will be performing your piece for the entire 15 member Neo-Futurist ensemble. You will have access to a table, 2 chairs and a CD player, if you need them.

To repeat: when you come to your audition (which will take place at 5153 N. Ashland Ave. in the Neo-Futurarium) please bring

-An original two minute play, appropriate for the show and written for and by you

-Additional writing samples

-A headshot (and/or current picture) with resume

More specifics will be posted next time we're auditioning for new ensemble members. To be the first on your block to know about Neo auditions, sign up for our mailing list.