Originally published by Gonzaga News Service.
SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga University theatre’s production of “Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play” has been invited to perform at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Denver, for the 2017 Region VII event next month. This marks the first time a Gonzaga production has been invited to perform at the festival.
Written by Anne Washburn with music by Michael Friedman, the play was performed in November at the Magnuson Theatre. It’s one of three productions from throughout the region invited to perform at the festival this year. The region includes universities and colleges in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Alaska, and parts of Nevada and California. The production was selected based on reviews of the performance by regional respondents and the application submitted by theatre faculty.
The all-student original cast – excluding Grady Foster whose role of Colleen will be played by Olivia Roberts – will be on stage for the Denver performance. Theatre faculty Charlie Pepiton, director, and Courtney Smith, production manager, also will be there along with other staff and students attending the festival.
The show will play at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23 at the Curious Theatre Company (1080 Acoma St.). Admission is restricted to festival participants.
The play, first performed in 2012 in Washington, D.C., raises the question of what will endure when the cataclysm arrives. When the grid fails and society crumbles, how will we sustain ourselves in order to rebuild? An imaginative dark comedy, “Mr. Burns” propels the audience forward nearly a century as a new civilization reaches into the past for stories that give meaning to a new future for survivors.
The play features scenic design by faculty Courtney Smith, assisted by student designer Madeline Sloan, costume design by faculty Leslie Stamoolis, assisted by student designer Madison Hendricks, and lighting design by Ronn Campbell, faculty member at Columbia Basin College.
For more information, please contact Pepiton or Smith at (509) 313-6357.