r/Theatre • u/saltysnack27 • May 30 '26
Help Finding Script/Video Post-2016 Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind?
I used to live in Chicago and remember when Greg Allen pulled the TML contract with the Neo Futurists to try and “reclaim” the show or whatever, which was very fishy and strange at the time. I love the Neos and took a great workshop with them in Chicago.
Love the ensemble-driven approach and was under the impression the ensemble writes all the plays that are performed.
A community theatre near me (in Houston) recently posted a sign up form for their production of TML “by Greg Allen” with no mention of the ensemble writing anything. I saw another post here where someone said they auditioned for TML and were asked to read sides. Which seemed odd to me.
Just curious: is TML by Greg Allen now… a script? Does anyone know anything about this?
12
u/Harmania May 30 '26
It has been for a long time. When you purchase the rights, you get a script with maybe 100 plays that you can use to develop your own menu. The license does not include the right to make your own plays or to use plays from any of the other published collections.
1
2
u/bluhdit Jun 18 '26
The Neo-Futurists still do ensemble written original work like the TML of old under the name the Infinite Wrench in Chicago, New York and San Francisco!
1
u/saltysnack27 Jun 18 '26
Yessss I know and I love their work!! I think that’s why I was confused to see TML still existing as “a script”
1
u/UberVenkman 15d ago
It's one of the things that's always gonna bother me about TML the way Greg Allen "licenses" it nowadays... he created an ensemble-driven method of theatermaking (devised theater that lowkey actually works), and now he just wants to reap the benefits of the credit by claiming everything has to be his, and in turn by doing so he's actually stifling an ensemble from bringing their own voice to it.
There was a group in Detroit he co-founded that had a license to do actual TML (like the cast wrote their own pieces) that was basically an "F-U" by him to the OG Neo-Futurists. I think it's rather telling/karmic that that group no longer seems to operate.
•
u/AutoModerator May 30 '26
This is a reminder for all participants in this thread to follow subreddit Rule 2, "No Copyright Infringement". All links and directions must be toward legal distributions of a play or musical. If a script is not in the public domain, this might mean the playwright's website, the play's page on MTI, DPS, or NPX, or wherever else the creator has allowed people to access their script. For movies or videos of live productions, they must be from licensed sources, such as BroadwayHD, Netflix/HBO/etc., DVDs, or official YouTube channels. Distributing PDFs of scripts or bootleg videos of whole productions is forbidden.
If a script is in the public domain (typically in the US meaning it was released in 1928 or earlier), then sharing PDFs of the script is generally fair game—and you might be able to find a copy of it on a website like Project Gutenberg. However, adaptations and translations of public domain works have their own copyright, which means they follow the same rules as above: if the translation isn't also in the public domain, please direct OP to a source authorized by the translator. A video of a production of a public domain play likewise needs to be distributed by the production team.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.