The weekend of April 17, the Mt. SAC theater arts department staged four performances of, “Mr. Burns, A Post Electric Play.” As jarring as it sounds, it’s a mostly upbeat musical about a post-apocalyptic society that finds solace and connection through the retelling of episodes of “The Simpsons.”
“Mr. Burns” is a play with three acts starting in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event that leaves society without electricity. The ensemble of characters are left to dwell on all they have lost, but they find connection through the retelling of stories from the past.
An enduring cultural icon of narrative storytelling that the play focuses on is “The Simpsons.” While the recollecting of the story arcs of Simpson’s episodes brings the survivors together, the raw, traumatic remembrances of those who had passed are some of the most intensely felt scenes of the entire play. A subtle touch is how these narratives are recollected around the simulated fires of metal drums as stories have been told since the beginning of time. A clever touch is a huge broken television which makes it through the play’s first 2 acts.
Act two finds the troupe of storytellers seven years later where their skills at recollection have been refined and commercialized in that they are competing with other storytelling groups for access to the best lines. At the end of act two, the reality that they are living in a post-apocalyptic world rears its survivalist head as they are assaulted at gun point for their valuables.
This final act finds the troupe another 70 years into the future. Their recollections are now mythologized into something that resembles a religion. In watching act three, it was almost as if one were watching a mashup of a christian passion play and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
On a sad spoiler alert note, Homer, Marge and Lisa die at the end of the story but, as with any story, they will live on forever because it’s a story. A positive spoiler comes in the form of Bart Simpson vanquishing the evil Mr. Burns because, as we come to discover, Mr. Burns caused the apocalypse in the first place.
Special attention should be paid to the ensemble cast and crew who really invested themselves into their roles. It’s always enjoyable to watch a performer who is enjoying themselves on stage and Vincent Orozco, as Mr. Burns, he was really enjoying himself and the role in act III of, “Mister Burns.” His performance was the cherry on this delicious cake of a production.
Immediately after the production the director, professor Adam Critchlow, answered a few questions about the production.
“Story … Story … Story …” Critchlow said, when asked about the meaning of the play.
Critchlow went on to elaborate that even in post-apocalyptic times, story is where people find meaning and connection. Critchlow also related how some parts of the play were a blank slate for the actors to fill in and improvise. In fact, many of the songs performed in the second act were actor inspired.
James Myers, who has performed in numerous roles at Mt. SAC confirmed this to be the case. In fact, apparently James used his audition song, “La Vida Loca” as part of the act II song medley as it fit with the overall theme of the play.
The Sophia B. Clarke theater seats 415 people. While not all seats were filled there was a bordering on boisterous audience that clearly enjoyed and engaged with the production.
