San Marcos Theater to Stage Mr. Burns: A Post-electric Play
Central Texans obsessed with The Simpsons may want to take a road trip to San Marcos next week.
The Texas State University Department of Theater and Dance will stage a production of Mr Burns: A Post-electric Play at the Patti Strickel Harrison theater from Tuesday, October 2 through Sunday, October 7.
I grew up with The Simpsons, and the show formed the basis for much of my sense of humor. That said, I'd never even heard of this play until a friend forwarded me a link to the production website.
Below is the plot synopsis I found on Wikipedia:
Shortly after an unspecified apocalyptic event, a group of survivors gather together and begin to attempt to recount the episode "Cape Feare" of the television show The Simpsons. The second act picks up with the same group seven years later, who have now formed a theatrical troupe that specializes in performing Simpsons episodes, with commercials and all. The final act is set an additional 75 years in the future. The same episode of The Simpsons, now a familiar myth, has been reworked into a musical pageant, with the story, characters, and morals repurposed to fit the artistic and dramatic needs of a culture still reeling from destruction of civilization and the near-extinction of humanity decades earlier.
With the exception of the post-apocalyptic setting, the play seems like a retelling of my childhood. My best friends and I would have entire conversations using nothing but quotes from our favorite episodes - a tradition we still keep to this day.
The play seems to have gotten mixed-to-positive reviews over the years, but having never seen it, I can't tell you if it's any good or not.
However, I do know one thing - if there's a scene in which someone tries to reenact Sideshow Bob stepping on all those rakes, that alone will make the price of admission well worth it!
Has anyone in our audience seen the play? What did you think? Let us know in the comments.