SPINOFF at Neo-Futurarium — short-play festival

The Neo-Futurists are presenting “SPINOFF” at the Neo-Futurarium, their theater at 5153 N. Ashland in Chicago, with the run scheduled through May 16. The production is centered on Alé Ramirez and is billed by the company as a work that uses the script of the sitcom “Frasier” as a structural guide. (neofuturists.org) The current listings show performances at 7 p.m. on May 14, May 15 and May 16. Do312 and the company’s own calendar both list tickets for the remaining dates. (neofuturists.org) ### Why is this show called “SPINOFF”? Alé Ramirez is the named creator of “SPINOFF,” and the Neo-Futurists describe the piece as growing out of a period when Ramirez left the city two years ago to move back into their childhood home and care for their mother. (neofuturists.org) The company’s event page says Ramirez turned to television sitcoms for comfort during that period and discovered “Frasier.” The Neo-Futurists say that connection became the formal engine of the piece. Their description says the cast uses the script of “Frasier” as a roadmap while “deconstructing the sitcom form through the Neo-Futurist lens,” linking family caregiving and estrangement to the conventions of episodic television. (neofuturists.org) ### Who is making the show onstage? Do312 lists “SPINOFF” as created by Alé Ramirez and written and performed by Ramirez, Jasmine Henri Jordan, Julia Rowley, Evan Morales and aussie b. The same listing names Abby Pajakowski as director. (neofuturists.org) The Neo-Futurists’ broader programming pages place the production within the company’s current slate at the Neo-Futurarium, alongside long-running house work such as “The Infinite Wrench.” The venue page identifies the theater as the company’s home base in Uptown. (neofuturists.org) ### What does the production say it is about? The company’s event page frames the show around a set of family questions: “Who are we to our parents, who are they to us, what’s changed in the years apart?” That language appears across the Neo-Futurists’ site and third-party listings for the run. (do312.com) A review published this week by the site Simpler and With More Laughter says the work retells a chapter from Ramirez’s recent family history through sitcom devices. That review is an outside characterization, but it tracks with the theater’s own description of the project’s subject matter and structure. (neofuturists.org) ### Is this a festival of rotating short works? The available listings do not support that description. The Neo-Futurists’ official event page presents “SPINOFF” as a single named production built around Ramirez’s story and a fixed credited team, not as a festival or rotating bill of short experimental works. (neofuturists.org) The company does run other formats associated with short-form experimental theater, including “The Infinite Wrench,” which its site describes as a changing program of short plays. But that language appears on a separate event page and not on the “SPINOFF” listing. (simplerandwithmorelaughter.com) ### When are the remaining performances? The Neo-Futurists’ calendar lists “SPINOFF” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 14. Theater in Chicago lists additional 7 p.m. performances on Friday, May 15, and Saturday, May 16, and Do312 has ticket pages for May 16 and May 23. (neofuturists.org) The company’s event page and third-party listings consistently say the current run goes through May 16. The Neo-Futurarium page gives the address as 5153 N. Ashland Ave. in Chicago. Ticketing information is available through the Neo-Futurists’ website and Do312 listings for the remaining dates in the run. (neofuturists.org) (neofuturists.org) (neofuturists.org)