An experimental play by Anne Washburn, Directed by Sara Freeman
TACOMA, Wash. – Contemporary playwright Anne Washburn has created a play in which audience members watch the shell-shocked survivors of an apocalypse try to cope—in a most unexpected way.
To survive individually and as a community, six people gather around a fire after a nationwide nuclear plant disaster that has destroyed the country and its electric grid, and turn for comfort to the memory of one thing they share: pop culture, in the form of The Simpsons television series.
Sara Freeman ’95, who is directing a production of Mr. Burns, a post-electric play at University of Puget Sound, explains that the stage hit, which is both funny and scary, is not specifically about The Simpsons. Instead it shares certain pleasures and insights by referring to the well-known TV show.
“It uses the survivors’ re-creation of scenes from The Simpsons to activate their memories and their nostalgia so they can deal with the trauma of what they’ve lost and, slowly, begin rebuilding a society,” Freeman says.
Puget Sound’s Department of Theatre Arts will perform Mr. Burns, a post-electric play in Norton Clapp Theatre, Jones Hall, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24; Saturday, Feb. 25; Thursday, March 2; Friday, March 3; and Saturday, March 4. There will be an afternoon performance at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 4. Ticket information and a map of campus is below.
The play, which debuted in Seattle at the ACT last fall, unfolds each act of the story in a different style. One act is backstage drama, with a scene including a medley of pop songs; another is a ritual opera sketch, including costumes with fantastical masks.
Act 1 is set soon after the catastrophe, when the characters come together for the evening. To distract and steady themselves, they begin to act out the “Cape Feare” episode of The Simpsons.
“Their traumas include the meltdown of nuclear power plants, widespread epidemics, and the permanent failure of the nation’s electrical grid,” says Freeman. “The characters have seen many things they don’t want to remember.”
The second act begins seven years later. The characters are now members of a theater company that performs reconstructions of The Simpsons’ episodes as a way to earn money in a nascent trading economy. But they are still grappling with anxiety about the long-term effects of nuclear contamination.
Act 3 occurs 75 years after the disaster and The Simpsons performances have become a type of mythic opera that ritualistically commemorates the disaster. A song takes the audience through the events the original survivors suffered, and the stage becomes a place of catharsis, allowing society to deal with its horrific past and move on.
Absurd and jagged, melodramatic and droll, Washburn’s much-heralded play creates a world that fascinates. It is a world that will resonate with anyone and everyone who has awakened from or imagined the nightmare: Everything you have known and lived by is lost, and all that is left to help you re-create yourself is a handful of desperate strangers.
Mr. Burns, a post-electric play is directed by Sara Freeman, associate professor of theatre arts, with stage design by Robin McCartney ‘05, and costumes by Mishka Navarre. Music major Michael Stahl ’17, from the campus a cappella group, Garden Level, arranged the medley of pop songs. Choreography is by psychology major and theatre arts minor Alana Fineman ’17. Staging will partially take place in the audience space, so seating is limited to 60 people, and early booking is recommended.
FOR TICKETS: Tickets are available online at tickets.pugetsound.edu, or at Wheelock Information Center, 253.879.3100. Admission is $11 for the general public; $7 for seniors (55+), students, military, and Puget Sound students, faculty, and staff. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door.
For directions and a map of the campus: pugetsound.edu/directions
For accessibility information please contact accessibility@pugetsound.edu or 253.879.3931, or visit pugetsound.edu/accessibility.
Press photos of the dress rehearsal will be available shortly before the Friday, Feb. 24 opening night.
Photos on page: From top right: poster for the play; scenes from a dress rehearsal; Director Sara Freeman.
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