Experimental theater, as embodied by the Neo-Futurists, is less about doing something unusual than it is about truly conducting experiments. What would happen if we did this? Really. What would happen? There is something appealing about the approach, and you can always appreciate the intellectual impetus even if you don’t like the show. As it turns out, I like “You Asked for It!”—Greg Allen’s attempt to parse theatrical tastes and preferences—though don’t be deceived. His stagings of “America’s Least Wanted Play,” followed by “America’s Most Wanted Play,” are both amalgams of character types, settings and other details, gleaned from an email survey he sent to more than 2,000 people. The outcome is cheeky and intentionally a mishmash; Allen has made no effort to write plays that could plausibly stand on their own, separate from the survey results. It is all a bit of intellectual hokum, actually. The plays (playlets, really) are patently absurd, and that seems to be the point: If you spend all your time asking audiences what they want, the results will be ridiculous—and useless. The perfect irony is that I favored the least-wanted play over the most. It had something to do with actor Steve Walker playing an alien that resembles Bea Arthur in tin foil ears. Really? Is that what American wants least? (Nina Metz)
This production is now closed.
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