Mr Burns Character Analysis

Imara Savage’s take on Anne Washburn’s, innovative, and imaginative, Mr Burns, a post Electric play, was an enjoyable idiosyncratic escapade produced by the State Theatre Company South Australia and Belvoir. The world acclaimed dark comedy performance begins with a group of survivors huddled around a campfire after an apocalyptic event has wiped out all electricity in America, to distract themselves from their seemingly despondent situation, the group begins to recount an episode from The Simpsons called “Cape Feare”. Seven years later, they become a hit theatrical ensemble that makes their living by specialising in recreating episodes from The Simpsons. Seventy-five years later, the lines between art and religion has blurred and the “Cape

In act two, he plays one of the main characters of the groups travelling theatre troupe. In act three, Butel plays the disturbed version of Mr Burns in the musical pageant recreation of “Cape Feare”. In act one, the character Gibson’s camping gear is noticeably much newer than the rest of the characters to represent his objective to survive and create a new life. The directors blocking to position Butel constantly isolated from the campfire circle until he proves himself helpful through his memory reflects the theme of friendship as an integral part of the human experience in survival and a coping mechanism. Seven years later, Gibson is an anxious and obsessive-compulsive character and with the visibility of their play building processes, Butel uses the props to articulate his characters fanatical personality in a world where this form of entertainment is the only way to remember the popular-culture icon of The Simpsons. In act three, Butels’ character, Mr Burns, terrifies the whole Simpsons family, inspired by the cartoon version of Mr Burns but also the classic villains of film and art. The element of costumes is a major part of all characters in the last act, but especially Butels’ character as Savage depicts Mr Burns as an old confused, insecure man, hiding

With the lack of electricity as a key foundation of the entire play, the lighting throughout the first act is essential to appear natural. Chris Petridis, the lighting designer executed this through the illumination of the actors from ostensibly non-electric sources. Jacqy’s character is portrayed as prepared and as a result, assists the ambience of a fire lit stage with her use of a torch to bring attention to specific sections of the scenes for the audience. The purpose of the lighting is to guide the eyes of the audience around the space and to focus on what is important to assist the storytelling aspect. Throughout the second act, the group is in a warehouse during the afternoon with the appearance of a skylight for the main source of light, as an evolution of the lighting in act one, the characters are shown to use their knowledge of stage awareness with the use of lights while still in a post-electric society. Throughout the characters travelling theatre performances, Philips character is portrayed as a believer in realism, Maria believes that the theatre they create should be as authentic as possible and should aim for meaning rather than pure entertainment. This state of mind contributes to the third act where both high and low culture is turned into a religion. Philips then plays Itchy the mouse from the