Users' Choice

‘Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play’

Out on the Town

April 6, 2016

by Wisconsin Gazette

Retell an episode of The Simpsons without looking it up on Wikipedia or Google. Do it for seven years. Then another 75, all while the world burns around you. Such is the conceit of Mr. Burns, Anne Washburn’s fascinating play that depicts a society trying to survive shortly after an apocalyptic event nearly wipes out humanity. As the play opens, we see a group of strangers trying to remember the plot of a single episode of The Simpsons — “Cape Feare,” a parody of the similarly named film — but as time passes that random piece of pop culture memory becomes a shred of the past to hold on to and treasure.

April 7 to 24 at Overture Center, Madison. $20 to $45. forwardtheater.com.