Points of contention.
There are a lot of emotions to be expressed and statements to be made, in the wake of Greg Allen’s shocking announcement that, after 28 years, he has removed the rights of the Chicago Neo-Futurists to perform Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind.
At this time our ensemble is at work on crafting the creative solution rather than spending our time mired in the muck of this setback. Our Artistic Director, Kurt Chiang, has been charged to represent us all as the public voice of the active company, but ensemble alumni and journalists have been hard at work on presenting the facts, anecdotes, and analysis as they see it. A sample:
- Chicago Business, focusing largely on the finer points of trademarks as they relate to performance art.
- Chicago Reader, with additional supporting context and the first new TML play pitch from alumnus Ayun Halliday in several years.
- Chicagoist, focusing in on the statements of several women within the company whose veracity I affirm and whose strength I support.
- The personal blog of Megan Mercier, ensemble alumnus and my esteemed former co-AD, letting Greg’s self-serving narrative have it with both barrels.
- Chicago Tribune, with the most comprehensive breakdown of exactly what broke down, including several quotes from Greg that I strongly disagree with, but have agreed to remain silent about for the good of the company at this time.
The Neo-Futurists have been pushed out of an airplane. It is a terrifying, exhilarating rush of adrenaline. However, they had a needle and a bag of fabric on them when they were ejected, and they excel at thinking quickly and working quicker. So they’re going to sew their own parachute on the way down, and after that’s accomplished, they’re going to craft that parachute into wings.
Creative Control 
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