GALLERY: Mr. Burns, a Post Electric Play

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After putting a sword through Mr. Burns’s side, Bart Simpson kicks Mr. Burns on to the ground in revenge.

“Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play” takes place subsequently after a new disease rapidly wracks the nation, killing many and damaging much of the United States, including the entire electrical grid.

The play, originally written by Anne Washburn, follows a group of survivors who find each other and begin to entertain and distract themselves by re-enacting episodes from the TV show “The Simpsons”.

Director Eric Altheide said he is hopeful about opening night on November 17.

“Opening nights are usually pretty good audiences because it’s a lot of theater majors that come and see it, so I imagine it’s going to go well.”

“The play is very interesting and very odd. So it’s going to be very interesting to see how the audiences respond to it! It’s one of those plays that I don’t necessarily know that people are going to walk away saying that they enjoyed but the hope is they will talk about it for awhile afterwards,” Altheide said.

Altheide, who has been directing plays at USI for six years, says he wants the audience to know that the play “is funny and…fun but at the same time it’s got kind of a deeper message. It’s a play about the nature of art and the nature of storytelling…it’s very different.”