Parkland actors on the clock as they are expected to do 30 plays in 60 minutes

CHAMPAIGN If you feel some theater and other performances are too long, head over to Parkland Theatre to see its latest production: Neo-Futurist plays from "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" 30 plays in 60 minutes and as a warm-up, Christopher Durang's short comedy "The Actor's Nightmare."

Director J.W. Morrissette and cast promise the entire show runs 90 minutes, not counting a short intermission. And the promise is solid: a countdown clock on stage will time the presentations of the Chicago Neo-Futurist plays.

"It ends at 60 minutes even if the last play isn't over," Morrissette said before rehearsal on Monday night at the Parkland Theatre, where the plays opened Wednesday and run through Sunday. "If we don't make it through all 30 plays in one hour, a catastrophic event takes place."

The audience also is involved in that it shouts out the number of the play it wants performed. The numbers are posted on a huge sign above the stage, with the corresponding titles printed in the programs.

This gives each performance a different feel and leads to spontaneity while challenging the cast members to remember their lines, cast members said.

Seth Valentine, a University of Illinois student who is directing "Too Much Light ...," portrays the host who keeps things running.

Another possible plus for the audience: Each evening the 315-seat house is sold out, the cast will order a pizza for the audience.

Just one.

Theater-goers are expected to share.

"Usually people are too modest and won't go up to the stage" for the pizza, said cast member Clara Byczkowski, a UI acting student.

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Parkland actors on the clock as they are expected to do 30 plays in 60 minutes