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Theatre Thu Feb 26 2009
Neo-Futurists: One Play in 5 1/2 Hours!
Greg Allen could do 165 plays in the time it takes to get through Strange Interlude, the 5-1/2 hour saga that will conclude the Eugene O'Neill Festival at the Goodman Theatre this March. The founding director of the Neo-Futurists, whose signature show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind runs through 30 plays in 60 minutes, is at the helm of O'Neill's epic about Nina Leeds, a woman who falls in love with the doctor who aborted her possibly-mentally-ill baby, then impregnated her as a cover up. Characters in the play regularly reveal their inner thoughts as asides to the audience -- hence the length.
"No director in his right mind would take this on," Allen says. "Therefore it's the perfect impossible task for me." Allen spent three months rehearsing the show, which stars Neo-Futurists Joe Dempsey and Dean Evans, Barrel of Monkeys company member Brennan Buhl, and Merrie Greenfield and Jeremy Sher as Nina Leeds and the doctor.
The play won a Pulitzer Prize in 1928 but hasn't been seen on stage since the 1980s, probably due to its massive length. The March 6 show at the Goodman's Owen Theatre has three intermissions, the March 7 and 8 performances start at 2pm and include a dinner break. A dinner break!
Tickets are still available for all three performances. You can get them online or by calling 312-443-3800.