"Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play" continues with performances Friday-Sunday, May 11-13, at the Tulsa PAC, 110 E. Second St. For tickets: 918-596-7111, myticketoffice.com https://www.fortyfivedownstairs.com/wp2016/event/mr-burns-a-post-electric-play-return-season/. (Only kidding, it was terrible.) Emma Choy makes for a surprisingly moving Bart and Hannah Greenwood makes a truly monstrous Itchy. Anne Washburn’s play Mr Burns, A Post-Electric Play, turns on this very idea, as a group of survivors of an apocalypse gather around a fire and attempt to recount an episode of The Simpsons. A couple of the actors simply need to be louder; there’s something almost timid about the vocal delivery, overall. Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! Their form of engagement with popular culture is similar to ours through interaction and point of view. episode on the road. By: So we can see the Greek theatre underneath the morality plays of the middle ages; we can see Robert Mitchum’s performance in The Night of the Hunter underneath Kelsey Grammer’s fruity take on Sideshow Bob. wasn’t as bad as I remember. With each transformation through time, Washburn layers meanings on top of each other just like a palimpsest, where earlier meanings are still visible underneath new ones. This play imagines a future without electricity – but with The Simpsons. The play becomes a backstage drama, as they bicker about directorial decisions and artistic merit. We're working hard to be accurate. To entertain themselves they attempt to recreate an episode of The Simpsons from memory; an episode based on a film which itself was based on another film. Recalling an old episode was an activity for the characters to spend time during a period of nuclear disaster. But these are unusual times, so please check that events are still happening. Though extremely disappointing, everyone understood why it had to be done. Suffice to say, what was once a means of forgetting the horrors of the world has morphed into something ritualistic and pedagogical; a high cultural artefact that resembles a mass more than a cartoon. This meta dark comedy travels through layers of time and thought until it comes full circle; a single Simpsons episode becomes a bridge to both the past and the future, reminding us of the profound value of storytelling. This scene addresses our own engagement with popular culture through interaction. People did not have a form of entertainment because they had no electricity, television, and digital entertainment. Mr. Burns, a post-electric play begins with eight friends gathered around a fire trying to recall the plot from The Simpsons' episode "Cape Feare." Anne Washburn’s play, , turns on this very idea, as a group of survivors of an apocalypse gather around a fire and attempt to recount an episode of. Friendly warning! The survivors bond over this communal recollection, or maybe just keep the fear and despair at bay. I don’t mention it to shame the wonderfully ambitious students who mounted it, but to underline a point about memory and the infinite mutability of cultural forms: it doesn’t matter if the culture is high or low; it only matters what we do with it, how we imbue it with meaning. Your email will only be seen by the event organiser. . Mr. Burns a post-electric play received its world premiere at the Woolly Mammoth Theater Company in Washington DC in May, 2012, and had its New York City debut at Playwrights Horizons in August, 2013 under the direction of Steve Cosson. It makes for an interesting companion piece to Annie Baker’s The Antipodes, which in its own way imagined a kind of apocalypse of the story-telling urge. Washburn’s play focuses on a group of people who recall an episode of The Simpsons during a time of crisis. The first Act of Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play is set during a time of a dystopian society because of a nuclear disaster in the country. Richard Vabre’s lighting is wondrous and clever, moving from the organic to the orgiastic with a wealth of ingenuity. Therefore, in the first act, a group of people sits around a campfire to talk about The Simpsons: Cape Feare episode. For more information please review our cookie policy. The performances are terrific for the most part. With each transformation through time, Washburn layers meanings on top of each other just like a palimpsest, where earlier meanings are still visible underneath new ones. Mr. Burns - A Post Electric Play. The original February and March season of Mr Burns has now sold out. People of all backgrounds meet and bond with each other through popular culture.