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The University of Wisconsin-Superior Theatre season begins this weekend with the opening of Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play, written by Anne Washburn and directed by UW-Superior Assistant Professor of Theatre Sean Naughton.
Post-Electric Immersive Production
With its three-act structure, Mr. Burns offers audiences an immersive theatrical experience unlike any recent production at UW-Superior. Naughton and the theatre department have transformed multiple spaces throughout Holden Fine Arts Center, with each act taking place in a different location to reflect the play’s evolving world. The production incorporates scenic, lighting, sound and media design to fully immerse audiences in the story.
“The department is pretty excited to do what we think might be the first immersive production we’ve done here at UWS, or at least the first in a while,” said Naughton.
Set after a societal collapse, Mr. Burns follows survivors as they attempt to recall stories from a lost digital age. At its center is their collective effort to reconstruct the “Cape Feare” episode of The Simpsons. Through three distinct acts, the play explores memory, storytelling and what happens when human recollection becomes society’s primary way of preserving culture.
Because the story unfolds across different periods of time, Naughton wanted audiences to experience that progression physically as well as narratively.
“Because the play moves through time, we also thought it would be interesting to move our audience through space,” he said. “What we hope the effect is, is that you feel that you’ve been transported forward in time along with our actors and performers.”
Naughton also praised the cast for embracing the production’s ambitious concept.
“We have a terrific cast that is just kind of going with it and also embracing this conceptual idea,” he said.
Creating the Post-Electric World
Bringing the production to life required the support of the theatre department’s technical team from the very beginning.
“The first step is convincing all of the technical people, all the technical staff that we work with, that it’s going to be a cool idea,” Naughton said with a laugh.
He credited Alex Flinner and Kevin Sieme, who lead many of the technical aspects of UW-Superior theatre productions, for helping make the immersive concept a reality.
“It’s literally asking them to do triple the work in some ways,” Naughton said. “They’ve embraced this idea and made it work.”
Leading up to opening weekend, student staff members, including ushers, box office workers and backstage crew, have also been preparing for the unique logistics of moving audiences between performance spaces as they journey through the post-apocalyptic world of Mr. Burns.
The Simpsons and the Power of Storytelling
For Naughton, the themes at the heart of Mr. Burns extend far beyond its post-apocalyptic setting.
“I would say this is a story for anyone that loves stories,” he said.
As the play explores multiple forms of storytelling, from oral tradition to classical Greek theatre, it examines how people preserve and pass along shared experiences.
“The progression of storytelling, the way that memory works, the way that we as humans essentialize storytelling and pass down storytelling, it really speaks to the necessity of that kind of interaction,” Naughton said. “It’s connected to our experiences as humans with one another.”
Performances will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 30-31 and Nov. 5-6, with 2 p.m. matinees Nov. 1 and 7.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, and $5 for students with a valid UW-Superior ID. Tickets may be purchased online or at the box office in the Holden Fine Arts Center. Reservations may be made by calling 715-394-8369.
By Emily Tews, a multimedia journalism major and student writer for UWS.