Mr. Burns, a post-electric play
- Written by Anne Washburn
- Music by Michael Friedman
- Directed by Steve Cosson
Playwrights: Antlia Pneumatica; Mr. Burns, a post-electric play. Other plays include 10 out of 12, Little Bunny Foo Foo, The Internationalist, A Devil At Noon, Apparition, The Communist Dracula Pageant, I Have Loved Strangers, The Ladies, The Small, and transadaptations of Euripides' Orestes & Iphigenia in Aulis. Her work has been produced by 13P, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Almeida, American Repertory Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre, Classic Stage Company, Clubbed Thumb, The Civilians, Dixon Place, Ensemble Studio Theater, The Folger, The Gate, The Guthrie, Playwrights Horizons, Red Eye, Soho Rep., Studio Theater, Two River Theater Company, Vineyard Theater, and Woolly Mammoth. Honors include a Whiting, a Guggenheim, an Alpert Award, a PEN/Laura Pels Award for an artist in mid-career, a NYFA Fellowship, a Time Warner Fellowship, Susan Smith Blackburn finalist, and residencies at MacDowell and Yaddo. She is an associated artist with The Civilians, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, Chochiqq, and is an alumna of New Dramatists and 13P.
Credits include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Broadway and the Public Theater) Unknown Soldier, The Fortress of Solitude, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and Mr. Burns. With The Civilians: Canard Canard Goose, Gone Missing, Nobody’s Lunch, This Beautiful City, In the Footprint, The Great Immensity, Paris Commune, Pretty Filthy, and The Abominables. He was the Artist-in-Residence and Director of the Public Forum at the Public Theater and Artistic Director of City Center Encores! Off-Center. He received the 2007 OBIE Award for sustained excellence and was honored with a star on the Playwright’s Sidewalk at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in 2018.
Steve Cosson is a writer and director. Directing highlights include Spring Awakening (Olney Theatre), Anne Washburn’s A Devil at Noon (Humana Festival, O’Neill), Bus Stop (Kansas City Rep), U.S. premiere of Martin Crimp’s Attempts on Her Life (Soho Rep). He is the founding Artistic Director of the Civilians. The company creates original works of investigative theater that have been performed Off-Broadway and in over 40 cities nationally and internationally. Highlights of work with the Civilians include Anne Washburn’s Mr. Burns (Woolly Mammoth Theatre, The Washington Post’s #1 play for 2012), Bess Wohl/Michael Friedman’s Pretty Filthy, Paris Commune (2012 BAM Next Wave), The Great Immensity, The Next Forever created for the 2012 TED Conference, In The Footprint (Top 10 of 2010 in NY Times, Time Out, New Yorker), This Beautiful City,(I Am) Nobody’s Lunch and Gone Missing (NY Times Top 10 of 2007). These works and others have been produced at The Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Vineyard Theatre, Barrow Street, Woolly Mammoth, Kansas City Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Repertory Theater, Center Theater Group, HBO’s Comedy Festival, MoMA, The Gate Theatre and Soho Theatre in London and many others. His plays are published by Oberon Books, Dramatists Play Service and an anthology from Playscripts. As of June 2013.
New York Premiere
What will endure when the cataclysm arrives—when the grid fails, society crumbles, and we’re faced with the task of rebuilding? Anne Washburn’s imaginative dark comedy propels us forward nearly a century, following a new civilization stumbling into its future. A paean to live theater, and to 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.
Featuring
Quincy Tyler Bernstine
Susannah Flood
Gibson Frazier
Matthew Maher
Nedra Marie Taylor
Jennifer R. Morris
Colleen Werthmann
Sam Breslin Wright
NY Theater (selected credits): Evanston Salt Costs Climbing; Marys Seacole (Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play); Our Lady of 121st Street (Lortel nomination); The Amateurs (Lortel nomination); As You Like It (Lortel nomination); Small Mouth Sounds; Peer Gynt; Grand Concourse (Lortel nomination); 10 out of 12; The Nether; Mr. Burns; Neva (Lortel nomination); We Are Proud to Present a Presentation…; born bad; Red-Handed Otter; Family Week; Ruined (2009 OBIE for Performance, Clarence Derwent, Audelco Awards); In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play); The Misanthrope; A Small, Melodramatic Story; Matt & Ben, ‘nami; (I am) Nobody’s Lunch; The Ladies. Film (selected credits): The Tender Bar, White Noise, Manchester By The Sea, Easy Living, Still Alice, Ned Rifle, Red Hook Summer, While We’re Young, Hungry Hearts, Rachel Getting Married. TV (selected credits): “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,” “Evil,” “The Equalizer,” “Julia,” “Power Book II: GHOST”, “Ray Donovan”, “The Code”, “Modern Love”, “Power,” “High Maintenance,” “The Good Wife,” “The Blacklist,” “Elementary,” “Blue Bloods,” “Madame Secretary,” “The Leftovers,” “The Strain,” “Chappelle’s Show,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” Education: Brown (BA), UCSD (MFA). 2019 OBIE for Sustained Excellence in Performance, Cullman 3rd Award for Extraordinary Creativity (Lincoln Center Theater, 2019); 2015 Lilly Award, Charles Bowden Award from New Dramatists. She is represented by Cornerstone Talent Agency, The Burstein Company, and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham.
Susannah Flood has been seen on Broadway in The Cherry Orchard (Roundabout). Select Off-Broadway and NY includes The Counter, Make Believe (Second Stage); The Effect, Tribes (Barrow Street); Scenes From A Marriage, Love & Information (NYTW); Mr. Burns (Playwrights Horizons); The Sonic Life of a Giant Tortoise (PlayCo); Fulfillment (The Flea); As You Like It (The Public/NYSF), Bird in the Hand (Fulcrum); Baby Scream Miracle and Plano, both for Clubbed Thumb, where she is an affiliated artist. TV: Kate Littlejohn on For The People (ABC/Shondaland), also Law & Order: SVU, Chicago Fire, Deadbeat and Mary Laws' upcoming Daylight Daycare (Annapurna for Hulu). Susannah is the voice of Laeticia Saltier on Julian Koster's podcast The Orbiting Human Circus (of the Air) (Night Vale Presents/WNYC). BA: UC Berkeley. MFA: Brown/Trinity. Go Bears.
Gibson Frazier is an actor, writer, and filmmaker living in New York City. He has worked in numerous independent films with such luminaries as Steven Soderbergh, Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig, and Kirk Douglas. He also co-wrote, produced, and starred in the cult hit Man of the Century. Gibson has narrated over 60 audiobooks including the beloved Spy School and Funjungle series written by New York Times bestselling author Stuart Gibbs. A denizen of New York’s downtown theatre scene, Gibson was named one of the best off-Broadway actors by both Time Out: New York and The Village Voice.
Playwrights: The Flick (also Barrow Street Theater and National Theater, London), The World Over. Other recent theater includes King Lear (Broadway) and Othello (NYTW, Lortel nomination). Film/TV Include Air, Funny Pages,The Kill Room,Marriage Story, Captain Marvel, Live By Night, The Finest Hours, A Most Violent Year, While We’re Young, “Our Flag Means Death”, “Hello Tomorrow”, “Outer Range”, “Prodigal Son”, “New Amsterdam”, “Mozart in the Jungle”, ”Nurse Jackie.” Two Obie Awards, including one for Sustained Excellence of Performance.
Playwrights: A Life. Taylor holds an MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School. Broadway: The Book of Mormon (Eugene O’Neill), Marvin's Room (Roundabout). Off-Broadway: The House that Will Not Stand (NYTW), The Underlying Chris (Second Stage), Lost Lake (MTC). TV: series regular on Invasion (Apple TV+), Orange is The New Black, NCIS: New Orleans, Random Acts of Flyness, Jessica Jones, and more.
Jennifer R. Morris (Jenny) is an actor, writer, and director. As an actor: The Lucky Ones (Ars Nova), Artificial Flavors (59E59/WNYC), You Better Sit Down (Williamstown/The Flea). She has performed in numerous national commercials. As a director: winner of the Shondaland Women’s Directing Mentorship, named Best Female Creator AMC Networks at Stareable. Her series “if I’m alive next week” made its world premiere at Tribeca and won top honors at SeriesFest, Nashville Film Festival, Catalyst and Stareable.
Playwrights: Miss Witherspoon, Recent Tragic Events. With The Civilians: Canard Canard Goose?, Gone Missing, The Ladies, In The Footprint, Artificial Flavors, and many more. NY theater: Public, NYTW, Soho Rep, Elevator Repair Service, Colt Coeur. TV/film: The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Law and Order, SALT. Werthmann is also an Emmy-nominated comedy writer (The Daily Show, The Nightly Show, the Oscars, etc.).
Playwrights: The Trees. Broadway: Macbeth. Selected Off Broadway: The Temperamentals (Drama Desk Award, Best Ensemble), Coop, Bonnie’s Last Flight, King Phillip’s Head, Vendetta Chrome, Paris Commune. Selected Regional: We’re Gonna Be Okay (Humana Festival), Bunny Foo Foo (Actors Theater of Louisville), The Three Sisters (Berkeley Rep/Yale Rep), Select TV & Film: Madam Secretary (recurring), Bull (recurring), Elementary, Law and Order, The Beaver, Rescue Me, The Crowded Room (Apple TV) Upcoming: The History of Sound. M.F.A. UCSD. Artistic Associate of The Civilians.
Creative Team
Neil Patel
Scenic DesignEmily Rebholz
Costume DesignJustin Townsend
Lighting DesignKen Travis
Sound DesignMike Brun
Music DirectorSam Pinkleton
ChoreographerKyle Gates
Production Stage ManagerBorn in Wales, raised in Wisconsin and living in New York City, Neil’s design work has been seen in feature films, television series, commercials, Broadway and West End plays and musicals, international operas as well as exhibitions for the Venice Biennale.
Recent projects include Laurence Fishburne’s LIKE THEY DO IN THE MOVIES at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, CIVILIZATION TO NATION: THE GREAT INDIAN MUSICAL which opened the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Center in Mumbai, Antoine Fuqua’s KING SHAKA (CBS/Showtime) and David Byrne’s THEATER OF THE MIND (Denver Center for Performing Arts/Arbutus).
Notable film and television projects include DICKINSON for AppleTV+ (Peabody Award), PRETTY LITTLE LIARS:ORIGINAL SIN for HBOMAX, SOME VELVET MORNING (TriBeCa Film Festival) for TriBeca Films, IN TREATMENT for HBO (Peabody Award), DIL DHADAKNE DO and LITTLE BOXES (TriBeCa Film Festival) for Netflix.
Costume Designer + Stylist: Lover of sharp tailoring, vintage buttons, matching socks and pocket squares, my roof deck in the summer, clog boots in the winter, Franny’s Pizza, Italian white wine and summer fairs.
First Costume Design: Godspell, 1994. Back when you could still find vintage Mickey Mouse t-shirts at the Goodwill in Memphis.
First Broadway Show: During my college tour weekend of NYC: Phantom of The Opera and Sunset Boulevard. Classic Broadway!
First Show to Design Off-Broadway: Gutenberg the Musical!
First Show to Design on Broadway: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.
Places of Inspiration: The NYC Subway, The Duchess County Fair, Paris, Italy, India, Upstate New York–anyplace I’ve ever traveled, my favorite magazine and tobacco shop at the corner of Spring and Lafayette, The Strand, Street Style Blogs and tourists at museums.
Lifelong Goal: To understand people through the observation of what they wear and to help tell their stories through the language of clothing.
Justin Townsend is an international lighting designer for performance. Broadway lighting designs include: Death Becomes Her, Once Upon A Mattress, Here Lies Love, Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award), Jagged Little Pill (Tony Nomination), American Psycho (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and Henry Hewes Award), The Humans (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), The Nap, Little Foxes, Present Laughter, Casa Valentina, A Night with Janis Joplin (NAACP Theatre Award), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, The Other Place, and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Hewes Nomination, OCC Nomination).
As Creative Director, Justin collaborated with Grammy-winning recording artist Drake, designing a 50'-tall replica of the top of the CN Tower for Drake's OvO Fest in Toronto. The two also paired up for 2017’s “Boy Meets World” European tour. Most recently he created two immersive lighting installations on Brooklyn Museum’s Solid Gold exhibit.
Ken is a Broadway sound designer who specializes in musical reinforcement. His system designs and soundscapes have been heard across Europe and the United States. In 2019 Ken won The Helen Hayes Award for the Shakespeare Theater Company’s production of Camelot and in 2013 Ken won the NAACP award for Memphis the Musical. He has been nominated for the Henry Hewes award for Mr Burns a Post Electric Play, the NAACP award for Sister Act, the Lortel Award for Abigail's Party, and the Audelco Award for Fabulation.
MIKE BRUN is an American composer, performer, producer, and orchestrator based out of New York City. At home in a wide range of formats and genres, Brun is known for a brand of soulful intelligence and deep craft all his own. He has Music Directed multiple New York Times “Critic’s Pick” theater productions, co-created dance pieces with Margaret Wiss and Emmy-winner Al Blackstone, served as band member for such artists as Cristin Milioti, Krystle Warren, and The Revivalists, and released three albums of original singer-songwriter music. His orchestrations have been performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Berkeley Repertory Theater, and The Kennedy Center. He is the mind behind the viral lofi beats brand Ciao Ciao Marigold, and produces other artists under the moniker 12tone.
As a composer for the screen, Brun’s broad life experiences and deep musical skillset all come to bear, making for uniquely evocative musical storytelling. He is drawn to unexpected and underrepresented subjects, and prioritizes intimacy and humanity in his composition. After graduating from the NYU Screen Scoring masters program in 2020, he has created scores in a myriad range of styles. Credits include the NY Emmy-nominated feature documentary Under the Greenwood Tree, which explores the Public Theater’s Public Works program, Noelia Muiño’s brooding and eerie period short film Monte Bravo (2020 Edinburgh International selection), and TRADE CENTER, Adam Baran’s poignant and haunting oral history about the vibrant Gay cruising scene in the World Trade Center pre-9/11 (2021 SXSW and AFI selections). He has written and produced songs for the screen as well, contributing most notably to This Really Happened (2024 Tribeca selection) and the main theme for How Art Changed Me (2024 Webby-winner).
Sam Pinkleton is a Tony Award-winning director, choreographer, and gay person. His work as a director includes Cole Escola's Oh, Mary! (Broadway/Lucille Lortel Theatre), Josh Sharp's Ta-Da! (Greenwich House Theater), Morgan Bassichis’ Can I Be Frank? (Soho Playhouse/La MaMa), Noah Diaz’ You Will Get Sick (Roundabout), The Wizard of Oz (ACT), Elizabeth Swados’ Runaways (Encores/Shakespeare in the Park), Head Over Heels (with Jenny Koons) and La Cage Aux Folles at Pasadena Playhouse, and Untitled DanceShowPartyThing (with Ani Taj - Virgin Voyages). Highlights of his work as a choreographer include Stephen Sondheim’s final musical Here We Are (The Shed/The National Theater), Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang’s Soft Power (The Public/CTG), and eight shows on Broadway including Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (Tony Nomination), Macbeth, and Machinal. Film/TV includes Dying For Sex and the musical The End, starring Tilda Swinton. His upcoming work includes the participatory Scottish dance musical Ceilidh and a revival of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway at Studio 54.
Most recently Kyle served as Producing Manager for Playwrights Horizons Theater School, an NYU Tisch studio, producing 50+ student theater projects a year. Before working in educational theater Kyle was a stage manager for over 15 years working on and off Broadway. Kyle holds a B.F.A. in Stage Management from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
DOWNRIGHT BRILLIANT. When was the last time you met a new play that was so smart it made your head spin? Get ready to reel, New York. Anne Washburn’s "Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play" has arrived to leave you dizzy with the scope and dazzle of its ideas. With grand assurance and artistry, Ms. Washburn makes us appreciate anew the profound value of storytelling in and of itself, and makes a case for theater as the most glorious and durable storyteller of all. I LOOK FORWARD TO REMEMBERING IT FOR A LONG, LONG TIME. (Critic's Pick)
GET IN LINE ASAP. This bizarre, funny, bleak, wonderful show is even better than its hype. Inventively directed by the Civilians’ Steve Cosson, it’s also one of the most affecting tributes to theater and tenacity you’re likely to see all year.
