CEDAR CITY — On Saturday, February 28th I got to experience the evening production of Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play by Anne Washburn. It was performed by the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theater. The production, produced by Southern Utah University’s Theatre department was performed and designed mostly by students. Mr. Burns was directed by Scott C. Knowles. The play itself was split into three acts and the review will be divided according to each individual act.
Act 1
For act one the setting consisted of a post apocalyptic scene that included some crate boxes, fire can and tires around a three sided audience seating located in a spacious theater. The story centers on people bonding over retelling of episodic moments of The Simpsons. The lighting was very dim to add to the end-of-the-world feeling for the scene but it did have some drawbacks for the audience’s experience. I really wish they would have brought up the lightening a bit as the actors in the first scene were talking because while I could hear what they were saying well enough but the darkness made it difficult to tell who actors were talking to during the different conversations. I found it incredibly difficult to determine the facial expressions or tone of the actors due to this. I was so distracted by this that I fear I missed much founding information that was later built on in the play.
Another hurdle for me was not having watched much of the pop culture referenced in the show—most notably The Simpsons. Fortunately, because of the show’s cultural presence, I wasn’t completely in the dark. Like most people, I’d absorbed bits and pieces through cultural osmosis—catching the occasional clip or scene over the years. So while I’m far from an expert, I at least had a general sense of who Homer, Marge, Lisa, and Bart are. This manifested in scene one by the actors playing regular people who were just trying to grapple with all the awful things through the coping mechanism of talking about their favorite Simpson episodes. A favorite bit of this I loved was when the character Gibson, played by Micah Cajilig did a spot on Marge impression. It made me giggle. The acting was funny, but filled with long pauses in between the conversations. I think artistically it was to give the audience a moment to sit but it dragged on a bit too long for me.
Act 2
Act two takes place 7 years later. You find the ragtag group of survivors from act one have found a way to make their coping mechanism into a living. They become a performance trope that acts out different scenes from television shows that include the Simpsons and other pop culture entertainment around that time. They even include the infamous commercials. This was one of the highlights honestly in the performance because the acting trope which consisted of Rockwell MacGilivray, Bailei Belnap, Emily Wheeler, Phaedra Vilate Henry, Kyleen Doman, Luke Rowe Ellison, Micah Cajilig, were spot on with being in sync with each other when it came to the commercial acting and singing. The survivors do this performance so they have something to barter with in order to obtain much needed supplies from other survivors. Act two ends when another troupe who wants to steal their rights to perform their tv episodes comes in with guns blazing.
Act 3
Act three then takes place 75 years later after act two. By this time the truth between what is actually pop culture and what is historical fact on how the apocalypse happened is now very muddled. It results in an over the top and hilarious rendition of the Simpson episode that was acted out in act two and talked about in act one. It is also mixed with inaccurate facts of how the apocalypse happened so it’s trying to be a kind of tribute performance to all of the above. There is much over the top drama which will have you in a fit of giggles. The cherry on top for me during this act was the performances given by Itchy (played by Kat Redd), and Scratchy (played by Harry B. Reid). They had me in a fit of laughter with their acting.
The character Mr. Burns played by Ty Saunders was just as hilariously delightful. I especially liked Mr. Burn’s musical rendition of Toxic by Brittney Spears. It made little 13 year old me jump up and down in excitement. I also appreciated the pop references of singing to the Flintstones theme song and doing a big Charlie’s angle pose. It brought my heart much joy. Finally, the performance by Bart, played by Gracelyn Erickson summed up the play well with her performance of having hope no matter what life throws at you with her final song. The actors performances were strong, and I didn’t have to totally get the references to enjoy the story they told.
Recommendation
Overall, the two hour play Mr. Burns was a bit more challenging for me to understand in the beginning but the pieces did come together by the end. Shoutout to my wonderful friend Candice who came with me to this production, she helped explain the pop culture bits I was especially confused with during intermission after acts one and two. If you are a big fan of the Simpsons and of other pop culture references during the early 90’s you will probably laugh throughout the whole show. If you are like me and are a bit clueless to most of these references the show is still very much enjoyable.
MORE INFO: MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY is currently playing at the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre (351 W University Blvd, Cedar City, UT 84720) as part of Southern Utah University’s Department of Theatre, Dance, and Arts Administration 2025–2026 season. The production runs through March 1, 2026. Performances are held at 7:30 PM on select evenings, with select 2:00 PM matinees. Tickets typically range from $10 to $20. For the most up-to-date schedule, performance details, and official ticketing, visit the Southern Utah University Theatre website: https://www.suu.edu/pva/theatre/