Having been a super fan of Greg Allen's brainchild, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, for about a decade, I set out in late 2016 to see what it would take to bring Neo-Futurism to Detroit and to Michigan. All roads led to the Neo-Futurists in Chicago who agreed to consider the possibility once we could raise $40K and help them plan a mini-tour through the state...assuming their board agreed unanimously to do so - and assuming someone was willing to buy my kidney. Thankfully the aforementioned kidney would get a reprieve that Thanksgiving when the Neo-Futurists announced that Greg Allen declined their request to renew their license for Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.
Crushed, I drank a little...and then a lot...and then built up the nerve to just cyber-stalk Greg Allen directly on the off-chance that he might say yes. With daily news reports of Trump's impending inauguration haunting my dreams, I left a rambling voicemail on what I hoped was Greg Allen's actual phone. Fast forward several weeks and a trip to Chicago later, and the Neo Theatre Co was born. Fast forward another couple of months, three days of auditions, an amazing two-week workshop with some of the most talented writer/performers working in Detroit, and one Cease and Desist letter from the Neo-Futurists later, and we were reborn as the UnTheatre Co!
Yeah, so that letter...apparently our existence, our use of the word "Neo," and our production of Neo-Futurism was enough to cause concern of "Unfair Competition" before we had even started our run. This obvious and unfounded effort to kill the baby in the crib provided a small hiccup initially, but ultimately a more unified and appropriate name and messaging for the company - as well as a hilariously fun video taping of the requested "Explicit Disclaimer". The upside is, of course, our website traffic out of Chicago is off the hook! Over 200 hits in one month! Thanks!
So here we are, armed with a new name, some crazy talented writer/performers, an amazing support system/staff, and a mission to tell our stories of life, loss, and social justice themes to every community in Michigan, starting with Detroit. We want to share our diversity in communities where diversity is taboo in an entertaining, engaging, and UnPrecedented way as many times as it takes until we begin to bridge the gaps and start to see our commonalities.
Christina Killmar - September 3rd, 2017