Mr. Burns, a post-electric play
By Anne Washburn
Directed by Jeff Storer
November 14 to 15 and 20 to 22 at 8 p.m.
November 16 and 23 at 2 p.m.
Sheafer Lab Theater
Anne Washburn’s imaginative dark comedy – a play with music featuring songs by Washburn and Michael Friedman – propels us forward nearly a century, following a new civilization stumbling into its future.
After the collapse of civilization, a group of survivors share a campfire and begin to piece together the plot of The Simpsons episode “Cape Feare” entirely from memory. Seven years later, this and other snippets of pop culture (sitcom plots, commercials, jingles and pop songs) have become the live entertainment of a post-apocalyptic society, sincerely trying to hold onto its past. Seventy-five years later, these are the myths and legends from which new forms of performance are created.
A paean to live theater, and the resilience of Bart Simpson through the ages, Mr. Burns is an animated exploration of how the pop culture of one era might evolve into the mythology of another.
This play is set in the very near future. Then, 7 years after that. Then, 75 years after that.
Audience Advisory: This production contains visual and auditory elements that may be distressing to some viewers, including haze, strobe lighting effects, and recorded gunfire.
There will be two ten-minute intermissions between acts. No one will be admitted after the doors close after intermissions.