This past Friday, I had the pleasure to see the Stevens Dramatic Society’s production of “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: 30 Plays in 60 Seconds.” “Too Much Light” is an eclectic show that casts aside the concepts of characters and setting in favor of a fast-paced gauntlet of plays, delivered by a skilled cast and aided by that often-overlooked contributor to all plays: the audience. At different times exciting, humorous, solemn, and thought-provoking, “Too Much Light” is a brilliant show that speaks of great things for the future of SDS.
One of the central features of “Too Much Light” is audience interaction. In most plays, members of the audience are spectators: they are encouraged to remain quiet throughout the entire show and not interfere with what they observe. However, in “Too Much Light” the audience’s role undergoes a dramatic shift from onlooker to participant. As you enter the show, a member of the cast provides you with a “menu,” a list of plays with corresponding numbers from one to thirty. As the show begins, actress and head producer Julia Cahn announces the rules of the play. At the beginning of the show and at the end of each play (denoted by a cast member saying the keyword “curtain”), members of the audience are to shout the number of the play they want performed. Whatever number is heard first will be next. However, the audience doesn’t just get the chance to decide what is performed when. They also get to engage in the plays themselves. In one play, members of the audience get to choose a cast member and ask arbitrary questions, while in another, a lucky (or, if you are shy, unlucky) patron gets summoned up to the stage to go on a blind date with an actor.
Of course, the play itself is quite important for any show, and this is no less true for one that seeks to provide 30 plays before many other shows would break for intermission. One might think that trying to perform so many plays in so little time is a venture doomed to fail. However, the SDS managed to accomplish this feat remarkably well. Each play feels unique, inspiring an array of emotions and including a variety of techniques that help differentiate it from the others. Some are lighthearted fun, such as the aptly-named “Tag” where the cast jumps down from the stage and plays tag with members of the audience. Others are satirical, such as “This Play Does Not Exist” where the cast denies the existence of the play and actress Ayse Akin is dragged out of the room for yelling that not only does it exist but that it was “the best play ever written.” Meanwhile, other plays are more personal and haunting; in “Flammable Pants,” actress Maryia Spirydonava asks the audience to raise their hands if they agree with statements that start out simple (“I consider myself an honest person”) but gradually grow darker as the lights dim (“I have considered suicide”).
The cast of “Too Much Light” was presented with several problems in making this show a reality. First of all, they only began rehearsing at the beginning of August, giving them only a month to practice all 30 plays. In addition, they had to take in consideration the inherent randomness of “Too Much Light;” actors had to be able to perform their plays in a random order and without knowing how the audience would respond to their many prompts. They had to keep the plays moving along, as they held themselves to a strict limit of 60 minutes. In fact, when I went to see the show on Friday the last play had to be cut short because time ran out. Yet on the whole, the acting was extremely powerful. Julia Cahn broke out into an impressive operatic voice during “Hair Director” while fellow actress Natalie Barillaro made an incredibly dramatic accusation against a sockless audience member during “A Pair of Socks,” even going so far as throwing her own socks at him. Everyone was quite stellar, including the two new faces in the cast, Maryia Spirydonava and Matt Colozzo.
The set design, while simple, was also quite clever. Since there are so many different plays being shown, there were no permanent props except for a projected clock and two clotheslines. The clock, kept off the stage and to the side, counted down how much time was left for the show, producing a loud alarm when time ran out. The clotheslines were spread across the center of the stage, but rather than hold up wet laundry, the lines held sheets of paper. Each paper had a stylized number on it, from a plain white 1 on a red circle to a picture of 30 in marquee lights, and whenever a play was selected its number would be torn off the line. These props not only served basic functions but also complimented the show: they provided something intriguing that broke from the plain black stage yet did not take too much attention away from the show itself.
“Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” is an incredibly unique show whose interactive and purposefully disjointed nature brings something delightful to anyone who enjoys the theater. Unfortunately, “Too Much Light” is no longer being performed, but if it is any indication of the acting and innovation of SDS then this is promising to be a good year. If anyone is interested in contributing to SDS, they are encouraged to send emails to sds@stevens.edu and to go to auditions for their next show, “Rumors,” on September 15th from 7 – 11pm at DeBaun Auditorium or E229.
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