With a twist of an apocalypse, a touch of The Simpsons and a turn of contemporary events, Lightning Jar Theatre presents the Melbourne premiere of Anne Washburn’s award-winning Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play opening at fortyfivedownstairs on 20 February 2019.
Exploring themes of technology, pop culture and survival in an unknown world, Anne Washburn’s darkly comic and thought-provoking work is astonishing and disturbing in equal measure. Directed by John Kachoyan with music direction by Andrew Patterson, Mr. Burns is a compelling examination of how the stories we tell make us the people we are.
In the aftermath of an untold apocalyptic event, a group of strangers huddle around a makeshift campfire, distracting themselves by piecing together a half-forgotten episode of their favourite show, The Simpsons. We then track 7 years, then 75 years into the future to see the story evolve into something with an altogether different meaning for its audience. How does pop culture survive in a world without electricity?
Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play is Lightning Jar Theatre’s third production following on from the success of the lively production Stupic F*cking Bird (2017) and the erotic drama Venus in Fur (2018).
“When was the last time you met a new play that was so smart it made your head spin? … Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play has arrived to leave you dizzy with the scope and dazzle of its ideas.” – New York Times.
Anne Washburn is an American playwright whose play’s include 10 out of 12, Antlia Pneumatica, A Devil At Noon, Apparition, The Communist Dracula Pageant, I Have Loved Strangers, The Ladies, The Internationalist, The Small, Little Bunny Foo Foo, and transadaptations of Euripides’ Orestes and Iphigenia In Aulis.
Awards include a Whiting Award, a PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation Theater Award, an Alpert Award, the Guggenheim, a NYFA Fellowship, a Time Warner Fellowship, Susan Smith Blackburn finalist, and residencies at MacDowell and Yaddo. She is an associated artist with The Civilians, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, Chochiqq, and is an alumna of New Dramatists and 13P.
Director: John Kachoyan Featuring: Jen Bush, Emma Choy, Hannah Greenwood, Tilly Legge, Victory Ndukwe, Ben Walter, Dylan Watson, Mark Yeates Musical Director: Andrew Patterson Set and Costume Design: Sophie Woodward Sound Design: Russell Goldsmith Lighting Designer: Richard Vabre Assistant Director: Ben Walter
Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play
fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Season: 20 February – 10 March 2019 (previews: 16 – 19 February)
Bookings: www.fortyfivedownstairs.com
For more information, visit: www.lightningjartheatre.com for details.
Image: Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play – photo by Sarah Walker