The Infinite Wrench is a wild ride of a truly one-of-a-kind theatre experience currently being performed by The Neo Futurist Ensemble based in Chicago. The idea sounds simple at first, but it can quickly throw you for a loop when you really think about it. 30 plays in 60 minutes, all original material crafted by the ensemble; with the order of plays chosen by the audience. Definitely not conventional by any means, and let’s be real, who really wants that all the time? The props are real, there is no time for theatrical effects, but there is plenty of time for one thing: the truth. 

After listening to the Cannopy interview with Connor Shioshita Pickett, the Artistic Director of the Neo-Futuristic Theater, I started pondering what being honest and reaching the truth really means in theatre. Throughout the interview, there are hints and comments about what should be considered honest or truthful; and I’m not sure those truly matter in the grand scheme of things. If a knife is real, that’s cool, but does the person watching the show in the back row need to know that the knife is real? Would that information give your typical audience member more satisfaction knowing that the cast is brave enough to handle real weapons rather than props because this presentation is closer to honesty? 

My understanding of the Neo-Futurists’ philosophy is that they want to deal with what’s going on right then and there. There is no other setting outside of that stage. No pretending that they’re on Mars, no pretty ladies from Venus to scare us, just the audience, the actors, and whatever they have at their disposal. I believe that artistic integrity is commendable and it shows you how serious the ensemble is taking their values, but how much time goes into planning actions that revolve around this form of honesty? 

As a performer in improv comedy, things are often fast-paced, and scenes come and go very quickly, in a way very similar to the structure of The Infinite Wrench, albeit their plays are all written and rehearsed before performing. For those that are not familiar with improv comedy, the actors (also referenced as players) on stage may be given a setting, relationship, or a simple phrase given to them by the audience. The players will then improvise a scene with this recommendation as their anchor point. The facilitator of the improv show may lay out a certain set of rules for this scene ahead of time, binding them to some sort of structure to follow. The truth of this scene is established by the players following the rules of the prompt given to them by the audience and the structure they have to follow. Everyone on stage and off stage will know the truth of the scene by the ending: The characters, intentions, setting, and how everything wraps up. All objects that are or were improvised are treated like the real thing because that is what’s required to play the scene appropriately. With that being said, we know we’re going to the theatre to watch a show. We’re going to see works of fiction(?) crafted by brilliant minds and actors. We know the rules. Why is this “honesty” such a big deal when it comes to literal props or possibly cutting corners to avoid energy lost while acting? We don’t need dramatic effects to see a good show, but emphasizing that you’re not doing that because it isn’t necessarily ‘truthful’ is an interesting way to view it.  

Clockwise from the top: The Neo-Futurist Theatre - Photo by Anna Gelman; Connor Shioshita Pickett in The Infinite Wrench; From Abby Paj Tries to Stay Alive by The Neo-Futurist Theatre - Photo by Justin Barbin

The beauty of being an artist is that your world is exactly that, your world. How you craft every landscape, every law, every being, every crevice is up to you. You define what the truth is, and you can choose to stick to it, or you can create something that has a purpose of destroying or distorting that truth. The Infinite Wrench is a true enigma in the sense that it’ll make you think about things in a different way and question things that you’ve seen in theater, and it may make you look at theatre productions in a refreshing way. Do some productions need all of those effects? What’s with the fire theatrics? Do these effects take away from the true rawness of what a production can be? I’ll tell you this: Connor Shioshita Pickett knows how to direct this ensemble, and there’s a reason why these shows are packed every weekend. These shows work brilliantly with the time limitations and rules set for them. That is the truth.