As in-person theater returns, allowing audience members to step out from behind their computer screens to once again sit in theaters, it’s easy to rejoice in the communal experience that is a live audience. That buzz of being around an excited group of complete strangers is what makes theater so fun to attend. But the return of The Neo-Futurists’ signature show, “The Infinite Wrench,” which resumed in-person performances on Sept. 18 after a year and a half away, proves that the connection to the artists on stage and the art they are creating was just as sorely missed.
During the pandemic, The Neo-Futurists had turned their long-running show into a virtual production, “The Infinite Wrench Goes Viral,” which was well enough received to allow the company to match its show’s pre-pandemic weekly revenue.
As the production returns to the stage, the basics remain the same: The Neo-Futurists ensemble attempts to perform 30 short plays in 60 minutes, with the order of the plays determined by the audience shouting out numbers based on a play menu handed out before the show. Each weekend, dice are rolled to determine how many of those plays will be replaced, which keeps each weekend’s iteration fresh.
Opening weekend also marked the Neo-Futurist debuts for four new ensemble members: Cat Huck, Abby Pajakowski, Ale Ramirez and Annie Share.
Mindful of COVID safety, the Neo-Futurists are requiring all audience members to show proof of vaccination and remain masked throughout the production. That said, anyone still a bit anxious about safety may find the small, enclosed pre-show lobby on the second floor of the Neo-Futurists’ North Ashland home a bit too crowded as the company looks to continue performing for near- or at-capacity crowds. Concessions were not being sold in order to encourage audience members to remain masked.
Once seated in the theatre, however, those concerns easily melt away, replaced by the high-energy onslaught of performances that follows.
Plays performed as part of “The Infinite Wrench” range from raucous to deeply contemplative and introspective. The beauty of what the Neo-Futurists offer in the show is that they don’t seek to play characters, only to offer the audience theatricalized versions of their own lives. The result of that honesty combined with the audience controlling the order of the plays is a sort of echo of the true nature of life, which itself can vary wildly from hilarity to solemnity depending on the day or moment.
At one point, Pajakowski may be literally bouncing off the walls, unable to deal with just how cute their 5.9 pound dog is, and the next the entire ensemble may be inviting audience members to use chalk to write earnest love notes on the floor of the stage. And then, the next moment may see the entire ensemble trying to fit inside of a large T-shirt.
The ensemble performs unmasked, except when a script calls for them to enter the audience or interact directly with audience members. As the ensemble points out, those who don’t want to be called on to participate may sit in the back of the space, while the more eager may sit up front. It’s a fair warning since, while you may have a chance to write on the floor, you may also wind up with a handful of lube thanks to the audience choosing the wrong bottle when trying to tell lube and hand sanitizer apart.
By the end of the night, the stage is left with an eclectic mess of chalk, water, and other remnants of the slew of plays performed in swift succession. The rapid-fire nature of the performance almost makes it easy to overlook the forest of houseplants the ensemble had gathered slowly against the back wall.
Much like this makeshift forest grew almost imperceptibly, so too did the connection to the performers on stage. As each performer offered a bit of themselves, their lives, and their truth with each passing short play, they managed to revitalize a connection between audience and artist that has been missing this past year and a half. While it’s only a glimpse into their lives through their art, “The Infinite Wrench” offers a level of intimacy that can only be obtained when artist and audience are finally able to lock eyes in the same space again.
Review: “The Infinite Wrench”
When: Saturday at 10:30 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m. in an open run
Where: The Neo-Futurist Theater, 5153 N. Ashland Ave.
Running time: 60 minutes
Tickets: $10 at (773) 878-4557 and neofuturists.org
