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Mr. Burns, a post-electric play

  • Anne Washburn
  • Full Length Play, Dark Comedy, Experimental, Contemporary, The Future
  • 3M, 5F
  • ISBN: 9781559364812

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

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Dark Comedy, Experimental
  • 120 minutes

  • Time Period: Contemporary, The Future
  • Target Audience: Adult, Appropriate for all audiences
  • Set Requirements: This play is set in the very near future. Then 7 years after that. Then 75 years after that.
  • Cautions: Gun Shots, Mild Adult Themes

  • Performance Group:
  • Large Stage, Dinner Theatre, Community Theatre, Professional Theatre, Shoestring Budget, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, College Theatre / Student

  • Accolades:
  • Winner! Whiting Award (2015)
    Nominee! Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play (2014)
    Anne Washburn is the recipient of the 2015 Whiting Award for Drama
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.

Premiere Production: Mr. Burns, a post-electric play received its world premiere at the Wooly 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.

Characters

  • Casting: 3M, 5F
  • Casting Attributes: Ensemble cast, Flexible casting, Room for Extras, Non-Traditional casting, Expandable casting
  • Casting Notes: It should be noted that the characters in this play bear at best a passing and in many cases no resemblance whatsoever to the actors initially involved in the project!
  • Chorus Size: Small

  • Roles are doubled/tripled like so:

    MATT - Homer/Scratchy
    JENNY - Marge/Marge
    SUSANNAH - Lisa & Second FBI Agent/Itchy
    SAM - Bart/Mr. Burns
    COLLEEN - First FBI Agent/Lisa
    GIBSON - Loving Husband & Sideshow Bob/Homer
    QUINCY - Businesswoman/Bart
    NEDRA - Edna Krabappel

    Everyone participates in the second act medley, and everyone spare sings chorally in the third act -- with Nedra (playing Edna Krabappel) as the Chorus Leader.

    • Available Material

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    Mr. Burns, a post-electric play Script This is optional. Order Now

    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.

    		$39.95

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