ONSTAGE MAGAZINEONSTAGE MAGAZINEINSTALLMENT FIVEINSTALLMENT FIVE

SPRING 2021SPRING 2021

Welcome all to this semester’s fifth installment of

OnStage Magazine!

Rather than the traditional mainstage production debuting at the end of the

semester, this spring you’re in for a real treat: UD Drama will be producing a series of

five radio plays performed live throughout the semester, directed by our very own

Professor Kyle Lemieux.

This week, Fridays @ 8 is reading Anne Washburn’s Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play.

We are proud to announce that with each show, OnStage will have a mini publication

ready for your enjoyment. Stay tuned to listen in on the upcoming shows this semester,

and don’t forget to look out for the final installment of OnStage Magazine — where

we will take a dive into the production process and hear more from our production crew,

actors, and director.

As always, we hope you enjoy the show!

Ellissa KiowskiEditor-in-Chief

OnStage Magazine

Mr. Burns: An Actor’s Reflectionby Gillian Jones

If Anne Washburn’s Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play makes you feel a strange combination of wistfulness and whiplash, you’re not alone. During the first read-through of the script, I thought, “This is a play about The Simpsons, pop music, and verbatim speech. This is hilarious.” When we started learning the music in the third act, I realized I was dead wrong. UD students should be familiar with the three unities Aristotle describes in his Poetics: the unity of time, place, and action. As Western theatregoers, we’re used to plays following this unified structure; it makes us comfortable. Washburn does away with all three unities over the course of the three acts, effectively pulling the rug out from under the audience. Act One features a lighthearted discussion of The Simspons interspersed with hints at the looming apocalyptic context of the story, as a group of friends encounter another survivor. Together, they read the names of loved ones, hoping the newcomer, Gibson, might be able to confirm whether they are alive or dead. We never learn precisely what deadly disaster left millions dead and thrust humanity back into the fire age. The character’s discussion isn’t expositional; we simply visit them in the middle of an ongoing experience, and have to play catch-up. The main story here isn’t the destruction, but the rebuilding. But hearing so little about a cataclysm is, as the character Jenny will later say of nostalgia, “that fine line between tantilization and torture.” Just when we think we’re catching on, the story jumps ahead seven years:

the characters’ romantic attachments have changed and there’s a new member in their group, Quincy. The unities are gone, and we are forced to imagine what, in the seven years between the acts, these people have endured and how the world is rebuilding. Instead, we are treated to a slice of their new lives as a theatre company producing half-remembered episodes of The Simpsons. But the shadow of the post-apocalyptic lawlessness still looms, and the act ends with a firefight. Do these characters we have been getting to know make it out alive? We never find out — but a gruesome end is certainly implied. Once again, our understanding is torn away in the third act. It no longer matters what happened to our intrepid survivors in that gunfight; it is seventy-five years later, and they would be long gone no matter what. Instead, we are treated to a dramatic performance featuring abstract Simpsons characters, handed down and distorted by oral tradition. In what we are made to understand as a traditional drama in this new world, the Simpsons family are the sole survivors of a nuclear disaster and flee to a riverboat. Finally, the titular Mr. Burns enters and murders all of the family, leaving only Bart alive. Alone on the deck, Bart sings “Everyone I love has gone / I’ll have joined them by the dawn.” I cried the first time we rehearsed that. Now I realize how contextual humor is, and that, by stripping this play of the Aristotelian unities and skipping ahead eighty years after an apocalypse, Washburn warps the context around The Simpsons. If they were sort of Everyman, archetypal Americans, then we see ourselves in them after this disaster. The audience experiences loss when we bond to the characters in the first two acts and are suddenly jolted ahead to a point in time when we know they are dead, but not how, just like the people on the lists of loved ones they read for each other. Although Aristotle would balk at the discontinuity, Mr. Burns is an effective tragedy because it forces the audience to undergo the same privation and loss as the characters.

Actor InterviewBy Ellissa Kiowski

transcribed by Isabel Bishop

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of interviewing Charlie Spurgin and Loretta This afternoon, I had the pleasure of interviewing Charlie Spurgin and Loretta Bond on the Capp Bar patio.Bond on the Capp Bar patio.

Ellissa KiowskiEllissa Kiowski: How would you describe the production process for: How would you describe the production process for Mr. Burns Mr. Burns? Is it ? Is it different from the production process for the previous four shows this semester?different from the production process for the previous four shows this semester?Loretta BondLoretta Bond: It’s a lot more work than the other ones because of the added visual : It’s a lot more work than the other ones because of the added visual element as well as the fact that the third act is a musical. There were lots of tricky element as well as the fact that the third act is a musical. There were lots of tricky technical things we had to work through, so in that sense it’s more messy and hectic, technical things we had to work through, so in that sense it’s more messy and hectic, but that’s also part of what makes it fun. It’s kind of chaotic.but that’s also part of what makes it fun. It’s kind of chaotic.Charlie SpurginCharlie Spurgin: Yeah, and with the new elements of music that we’ve added, we had : Yeah, and with the new elements of music that we’ve added, we had to focus a lot more on that than on the other aspects of the production.to focus a lot more on that than on the other aspects of the production.EKEK: Do you guys like doing a musical? Is it fun, or stressful, trying to learn all the : Do you guys like doing a musical? Is it fun, or stressful, trying to learn all the music in two weeks?music in two weeks?LBLB: It’s been very stressful, but we’ve got a lot of talented people, specifically Sophia : It’s been very stressful, but we’ve got a lot of talented people, specifically Sophia [Garcia] and Maylis [Quesnel]. I don’t think we’d be able to do it without them. [Garcia] and Maylis [Quesnel]. I don’t think we’d be able to do it without them. They’ve just been really awesome about conducting us. They play the piano for us, too. They’ve just been really awesome about conducting us. They play the piano for us, too. So, they’re accompanying us, checking us for mistakes, conducting us, and doing their So, they’re accompanying us, checking us for mistakes, conducting us, and doing their own musical instruments all at the same time. own musical instruments all at the same time. EKEK: That’s incredible. : That’s incredible. LBLB: And there’s just lots of really talented performers like Gabby [Borello], Faith : And there’s just lots of really talented performers like Gabby [Borello], Faith Berry, and Charlie Mihaliak, too. Berry, and Charlie Mihaliak, too. CSCS: That aspect, especially, has made the show feel very much run by students, : That aspect, especially, has made the show feel very much run by students, for students. Because Kyle [Lemieux] has been more hands-off about the musical for students. Because Kyle [Lemieux] has been more hands-off about the musical production, the other students are stepping up to direct in their own kind of way.production, the other students are stepping up to direct in their own kind of way.

EKEK: How do you guys feel about the visuals and basically being filmed while you’re : How do you guys feel about the visuals and basically being filmed while you’re doing this live reading? Does it feel closer to live theater, or further away?doing this live reading? Does it feel closer to live theater, or further away?LBLB: I’ve never been in live theater, so I wouldn’t know. It does add a different pressure : I’ve never been in live theater, so I wouldn’t know. It does add a different pressure to know that you’re being watched and you can’t just focus on your voice. You have to to know that you’re being watched and you can’t just focus on your voice. You have to be aware that you’re being watched, too. But I think Charlie can speak to that more. be aware that you’re being watched, too. But I think Charlie can speak to that more. CSCS: It’s weird, because it’s not a physical performance that we’re doing. It’s not : It’s weird, because it’s not a physical performance that we’re doing. It’s not a Zoom play where your facial expressions and body language matter, because a Zoom play where your facial expressions and body language matter, because ultimately what needs to be captured of our performance is still what’s going into ultimately what needs to be captured of our performance is still what’s going into the microphone. I think where it really comes in is in the final act, when you have the the microphone. I think where it really comes in is in the final act, when you have the added element of the masks that Susie [Cox] made.added element of the masks that Susie [Cox] made.LBLB: Yeah, they’re so cool.: Yeah, they’re so cool.CSCS: They were more or less designed by the cast. It’s also a really new play. It’s not : They were more or less designed by the cast. It’s also a really new play. It’s not Shakespeare.Shakespeare.EKEK: Yeah! This play in particular is very new — from 2012, I think. Pretty different : Yeah! This play in particular is very new — from 2012, I think. Pretty different from Shakespeare, Ibsen, or any of the other playwrights you’ve done this semseter. from Shakespeare, Ibsen, or any of the other playwrights you’ve done this semseter. How does it feel performing a contemporary play? How does it feel performing a contemporary play? CSCS: I think one benefit is that the words come out of our mouths easier, because it’s : I think one benefit is that the words come out of our mouths easier, because it’s written how contemporary people talk. With the exception of written how contemporary people talk. With the exception of An Enemy of the PeopleAn Enemy of the People, , because that was an adaptation which was written recently.because that was an adaptation which was written recently.EKEK: I noticed that about the script, that it sounds very much like casual — or excited : I noticed that about the script, that it sounds very much like casual — or excited — conversation. There’s not a lot of punctuation, and a lot of interjections and talking — conversation. There’s not a lot of punctuation, and a lot of interjections and talking over each other. So it makes it easier to actually get the words out, but do you feel over each other. So it makes it easier to actually get the words out, but do you feel more connected to the characters as a result of that?more connected to the characters as a result of that?CSCS: I think in some ways it’s more demanding because there’s less on the surface of : I think in some ways it’s more demanding because there’s less on the surface of what’s going on with each line. And the stakes of each individual line are also less clear what’s going on with each line. And the stakes of each individual line are also less clear when it’s casual conversation. There are external stakes in the immediate dialogue, when it’s casual conversation. There are external stakes in the immediate dialogue, so it’s less clear in that sense. Whereas in Shakespeare you have the ideas being so it’s less clear in that sense. Whereas in Shakespeare you have the ideas being communicated very directly.communicated very directly.

LBLB: I also think that in every other play that we’ve done so far, it’s been pretty clear : I also think that in every other play that we’ve done so far, it’s been pretty clear from the beginning what’s going on and you can see the acts unfold pretty well. from the beginning what’s going on and you can see the acts unfold pretty well. PersiansPersians literally opens with an exposition of what has happened. And literally opens with an exposition of what has happened. And Julius Caesar Julius Caesar and and TartuffeTartuffe are pretty straightforward, too. But this is the first time we’re opening and are pretty straightforward, too. But this is the first time we’re opening and the nuclear destruction has already happened—it’s the aftermath. And there’s hints at the nuclear destruction has already happened—it’s the aftermath. And there’s hints at that, but they never really talk about it. It’s still just them trying to focus on recreating that, but they never really talk about it. It’s still just them trying to focus on recreating a Simpsons episode because it’s fun. Eventually it becomes what they do to survive, a Simpsons episode because it’s fun. Eventually it becomes what they do to survive, because they make money on it. And then it becomes a ritual. That might be why it’s because they make money on it. And then it becomes a ritual. That might be why it’s harder than the other plays because it’s a lot less straightforward, so audiences might harder than the other plays because it’s a lot less straightforward, so audiences might have more difficulty trying to follow it. But I think it’ll be really fun!have more difficulty trying to follow it. But I think it’ll be really fun!EKEK: How do you feel about doing this play right now? Do you think that it reflects our : How do you feel about doing this play right now? Do you think that it reflects our current situation dealing with COVID, or maybe gives us a glimpse of what could be current situation dealing with COVID, or maybe gives us a glimpse of what could be our future?our future?LBLB: It’s a really sad play. I really love it, but it hurts to do it because there’s just so : It’s a really sad play. I really love it, but it hurts to do it because there’s just so much sadness and repressed grief throughout the whole thing. And that’s what’s kind much sadness and repressed grief throughout the whole thing. And that’s what’s kind of beautiful about the musical aspect of it because nothing is repressed. And then of beautiful about the musical aspect of it because nothing is repressed. And then the ending song with Bart when he says, “Love never dies in memory.” I think it’s a the ending song with Bart when he says, “Love never dies in memory.” I think it’s a good play to end with, but I’m sad it’s going to be over because it’s been a really great good play to end with, but I’m sad it’s going to be over because it’s been a really great experience.experience.CSCS: I’m curious to see how people respond to it. I think it will speak to some people : I’m curious to see how people respond to it. I think it will speak to some people and I think it’s very easy to see those parallel connections to now because it is this and I think it’s very easy to see those parallel connections to now because it is this apocalyptic situation and people are trying to build back society, and particularly they’re apocalyptic situation and people are trying to build back society, and particularly they’re trying to build back theater, which is what we’re trying to do with these radio plays trying to build back theater, which is what we’re trying to do with these radio plays and Zoom plays when we can’t do real theater. I don’t think everyone will feel like it and Zoom plays when we can’t do real theater. I don’t think everyone will feel like it represents their experience, so I think each individual can see or not see what they’ve represents their experience, so I think each individual can see or not see what they’ve gone through, but I think the general atmosphere of “we’ve lost so much” is just gone through, but I think the general atmosphere of “we’ve lost so much” is just objectively universal. objectively universal. EKEK: Well, thank you guys so much for this. I’m really excited to see it!: Well, thank you guys so much for this. I’m really excited to see it!

MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAYMR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAYACTOR CHARACTER

Robert Baxley MattLoretta Bond Jenny

Gabriella Borrello MariaSam Chiodo Sam

Grace Burleigh ColleenCharlie Spurgin GibsonSophia Garcia Quincy

Act III Cast:Charlie Mihaliak Mr. Burns

Ann Urbanski BartChristopher Young Homer

Faith Berry MargeGabriela Borrello Lisa

Caroline Kurdi ItchyGillian Jones Scratchy

Margaret Devitt Chief WiggumDavid Huner Nelson Muntz

Grace Burleigh Principal SkinnerRobert Baxley Mayor Quimby

Charlie Spurgin Mindy SimmonsJohn Muncy Annika Van Houten

Peter Shanley Agnes SkinnerMarcelle Van de Voorde Edna Krabappel

Sophia Garcia ApuMaylis Quesnel Troy McIure

Sam Chiodo WillyLoretta Bond Flanders

Clare Lindgren Nelson

Directed ByKyle Lemieux

Technical DirectorCameron Nottingham

Costume/Technical/Prop Shop StaffRobert Baxley Loretta Bond

Caroline Kurdi Clare LindgrenJohn Muncy Arianna RudorfM-C Scarlett Ann Urbanski

Special Thanks to: University of Dallas Printing and Postal, University of Dallas Facilities Department, Terry Chris Clotiaux, Brian Derby, Marilee Polakoff, Mike Anglin, Kyle Crusham, Elizabeth Herrera, Stefan Novinski, Susan Cox, Kendra DeLarge, The Office of the Provost, John Plotts, The Constantin

Dean’s Office, Ken Starzer

THANK YOU FOR LISTENINGNext Up:

Senior Studios | April 30th - May 2ndalice is where? Directed by Ann Urbanski

Purgatory Directed by John MuncyAfter Hours | April 30th - May 1st

Libation Bearers Directed by Gillian Jones

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UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS DRAMA DEPARTMENT PRESENTS