Ebenezer? I barely know 'er!

Photo by Sally Weiss

If we were to tell you that A Very Neo-Futurist Christmas Carol is an enjoyable and affecting journey through both the Dickens classic and our own very contemporary stories, you might treat that testimonial with some suspicion. We are, after all, biased.

So don't take our word for it:


The Chicago Reader

A hooded Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come may be stationed along the back wall, but the Ghost of Christmas Past is the real presiding spirit here. In this Neo-Futurists show directed by Chloe Johnston and Kristie K. Vuocolo, Dickens's A Christmas Carol is less a sentimental journey from stinginess to generosity than an extended riff on memory and regret. Five writer-performers use inventive, homemade stage effects (often involving food) to create a series of funny, poignant, and highly personal vignettes combining Scrooge's story with their own holiday memories. The most affecting of these are shared with us by the show's Tiny Tim, played by the diminutive, helium-voiced Jessica Anne, who imbues smallness with a kind of wounded outrage. --Zac Thompson


Time Out Chicago
Riffs on Dickens are a dime a dozen this time of year, but the Neos’ take, both regretful and hilarious, is the freshest we’ve seen in some time. Vivisecting holiday traditions in their traditionally nontraditional way, Vuocolo and company use the very English tale of Scrooge, the Cratchits and the spirits of past, present and future to lay out their very American neuroses about the season. It’s the past that’s most present: From nonpracticing cast members Seth Zurer and Bilal Dardai’s uncomfortable classroom memories to diminutive Jessica Anne’s childhood food phobias to Emjoy Gavino’s emphatic invocation of Barbra Streisand’s Christmas tunes, this warmhearted Neo-Carol is rooted in the myriad cultural contradictions of our collective winter celebration. —Kris Vire



Centerstage Chicago
Christmas is perhaps the easiest holiday to parody. All it takes is for Justin Timberlake to rhapsodize about gift-wrapping his dick or Stephen Colbert to don a red turtleneck and audiences will be tee-heeing until at least February. But the Neo-Futurists are not ones to be outdone by typical holiday antics involving Grandma's fondness for Captain Morgan or slap-happy Saint Nicks.

A witty and unpredictable mash-up of Dickens' quintessential tale, "A Very Neo-Futurist Christmas Carol" is emceed by the Grim Reaper and interspersed with sometimes funny, sometimes tragic personal narratives from the cast, shadow play, an interpretive dance number with Christmas Past, and, of course, at least one song about Dick Cheney. In the words of the cast: "This is OUR carol, song, story, truth. Boiled, blanched, fried and flavored. Chewed up, spit out, rebound and feathered."

Half of the fun of seeing a Neo-Futurist production is to be trounced by their comic ingenuity, which is peppered with adept social commentary and anxious audience interaction. Yet, for every Tiny Tim with Turrets or raw chicken that falls from the ceiling during a show, there are equal parts insight and political relevance. An homage to American troops. A kind of interrogation by candlelight that asks how you plan to change the world. "I change the litter box," said Jessica Anne, whose foul-mouthed bursts were a particular highlight of the show. A remarkable ensemble cast of six both wrote and performed the hour and fifteen-minute production. Brimming with manic doses of DIY frivolity and revelry, "Neo-Futurist Christmas" is the perfect holiday nightcap: It juxtaposes absurdist holiday traditions with humble reminders of our stunning yet clumsy humanity.

See you there soon!