The Seneca Valley High School Theatre group will be among the first high schools to present a play based on The Simpsons. The show, which is called Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, will run December 8, 9 at 7:00 pm and December 10 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

   According to Joanna Fellows, the drama director at Seneca Valley High School, “SVHS is proud to be one of the first high schools in the country to present this daring, insightful, and poignant piece.” The show is an American dark comedy play written by Anne Washburn. The show is an exploration of how the pop culture of one era might evolve into the mythology of another.

   The show begins around a campfire after an apocalyptic event that has wiped out half the population, knocked out the power grid, and compromised the integrity of the nuclear power plants. The strangers gathered there distract themselves from their fear and desolation by recalling a shared experience, the “Cape Feare” episode of The Simpsons.

   By sharing in this storytelling, the strangers become a community of their own. They choose which stories to tell and which to forget and stories become a commodity.

   Seventy-five years later the curtains reveal the third act. The original story shared around the campfire is retold, but the mechanics and conventions of the storytelling have evolved. The same stimulus, the communally remembered “Cape Feare” episode is infused with technological developments, changing societal norms, and seventy-five years of history. The story becomes a tale of god-like archetypes, battling against all odds to survive.

   Tickets for Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play are $8 or $10 dollars at the door at SVHS or online at SVHSDrama.yolasite.com for $6 or $8. Due to violence and language in the show, it is not recommended for children under the age of 13.