Mr. Burns – A Post-Electric Play

By Anne Washburn

Music by Michael Friedman

Directed by Mark A. Zimmerman

Choreography by Marissa Leenaarts

Music Direction by Barbara Bellamy

Thursday, October 8, 2015, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, October 9, 2015, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 10, 2015, 7:30 p.m.

Firestone High School

Akron School for the Arts

333 Rampart Avenue

Akron, Ohio 44313

What will endure when the cataclysm arrives—when the grid fails, society crumbles, and we’re faced with the task of rebuilding?

Anne Washburn’s imaginative dark comedy 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. 7 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. 75 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.