Enter a Pop Culture Rabbit Hole with Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play at Dramashop

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Friday, Feb. 23

The Simpsons is a pop-culture juggernaut that's spanned three decades of airtime and three decades of viewers. The show has offered critical commentary on the American nuclear family, predicted the future time and again, and gifted us some of the most memorable punchlines in television history. Now, it plays a central role in Anne Washburn's award-winning dystopian dramedy, Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play.

In a future dark age following the downfall of society, a group of survivors find solace in recalling the details of a particular Simpsons episode (the Season Five episode "Cape Feare") — one that eventually becomes a staple of live entertainment for a new society, and nearly a century later, the basis for post-modern myth.

As Dramashop describes the show as "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."

Mr. Burns is the winner of the 2015 Whiting Award and was nominated for a 2014 Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play. The opening weekend of this particular production will be featured as a part of Fringe Fest Erie 2018. In line with Dramashop productions of the past, Mr. Burns is a truly unique meditation on pop culture that audiences will not want to miss. — Aaron Mook

Fridays & Saturdays through Mar. 10, all shows 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. // 1001 State St., Ste. 210 // $5 Opening Weekend