Everything you need to know about ‘Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play’
The lovable cartoon family is coming alive on Fisher Theater’s stage tonight
The Simpsons have taken the small screen, big screen and now the stage? “Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play” is hitting Iowa State this week. I got a sneak peek into Iowa State Theater’s latest production.
“Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play” will open its doors this Friday night at 7. The show will run at Fisher Theater September 30th through October 30th, with shows Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2pm.
“Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play” by Anne Washburn, follows a group of survivors after America’s power grid goes down. In the first act the group gathers around a fire and recall a Simpsons episode entitled, “Cape Fear”, based off of the 1991 remake of the movie “Cape Fear.” The second act jumps into the future to show the group has formed a theater troupe and perform episodes of The Simpsons live, including commercials. The third and final act jumps 75 years a head and the episode of the Simpsons has turned into a religious ceremony.
The survivors rehearsing “Cape Feare”.
I got to sit down with Ashley Diaz, who plays Maria, one of the survivors. “She’s just a complex character it’s amazing to get into her head,” Ashley said. During the rehearsal process she had the chance to delve deeper into her backstory. “The author doesn’t give you much of the background so it’s very naturalistic and hard to get into the dialogue,” she said. “It was an amazing process because everyone was so dedicated to it and so invested.”
Ashley flipping through her costumes
“You have to pay attention to the show, there are a lot of connections between all the acts,” said Ashley. The mistakes made in act one carry throughout the show. The audience will be challenged throughout the play, and even outside in the lobby.
“There is a big dramaturgy display inside the hall and it has a lot of facts about the show and facts about if an apocalypse happened.” She went on to talk about how there will also be Simpsons clips playing on a screen in the lobby as well. “Every part of Mr. Burns is my favorite part,” Ashley said enthusiastically.
“Mr. Burns” will officially be opening its doors today. Tickets are $11 for students and $18 for adults. Doors will open at 7pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 1:30 on Sundays. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see America’s favorite cartoon family live on stage. Don’t miss out.