The freshman play “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” is a combination of 30 smaller plays. The whole performance was energetic—from the moment the cast jumped onstage and introduced itself to the 10-second countdown at the end of the play.
It was established at the beginning that the cast would acknowledge the audience’s presence, so there was audience interaction.
There were 30 numbered sheets of paper hung on a clothesline above the stage, and each sheet had the name of one of the 30 skits the cast had rehearsed. In order to decide which skit to do next, the audience would shout out one of the remaining hanging numbers. Then, a cast member who heard a number would pull it down from the clothesline, announce the name of that skit, and the actors would hurriedly set the props on stage and then perform that skit.
This furthered the level of audience interaction, and kept the audience active and interested in the play.
The skits were not interconnected in any way. A great number of the skits were satirical, which was a nice break from the skits that were there merely to entertain.
However, with all the chaos onstage, the actors’ voices could not be heard — especially when they read out the names of the skits they would perform.
Overall, the freshman play was a success. The cast members all seemed very comfortable with each other and adopted their own personalities, which made the performance enjoyable.
For that hour and a half, the audience felt like a big family. Even the skits that were more of a serious, social commentary were sprinkled with comic relief, so there was constant laughter in the auditorium.
