Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...The show taxed Theater Wit considerably — but it also coaxed its director, Jeremy Wechsler, into doing the best work of his career (actually, the most restrained work). Act 3 of this opus, which is by far the hardest act to make work, has a fall-off, but this is still a significant narrative and (crucially) emotional achievement for this off-Loop venue and producing entity. The show is being produced in a space without much built-in help, but Joe Schermoly's set, acutely aware of the small-screen sourcing, does most everything all by itself."
Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...Now, in Anne Washburn’s painfully labored work, “Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play,” which is receiving its Chicago debut in an ambitious Theater Wit production that cannot disguise the paucity of the material, the Simpson family and its various enemies have been envisioned as pivotal characters in the attempted cultural rebirth of a post-apocalyptic society. It’s enough to inspire any thoughtful person to start hoarding colored chalk so that come the great cataclysm, they might be able to find a cave wall and start drawing their lost dog or cat."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...The play starts simply, with a half-dozen stressed-out strangers perched on a pink couch by a campfire in the woods, trying to regain a glimmer of normality by recapping the "Cape Feare" episode of The Simpsons (for nonfans, that's the one where Sideshow Bob erratically attempts to murder Bart on a houseboat). Well—they get really, really into it. So much so, it seems the episode has crept into the myth used to explain the original devastation. That's where Mr. Burns hits its satirical stride, but this Theater Wit show is dead-on funny throughout, and under Jeremy Weschler's direction, peculiarly poignant too."
Gapers Block - Highly Recommended
"...Trying to describe the narrative of Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play is foolhardy. The story line is complex, but the production is immensely creative and well-acted by the cast of eight (Kelly Abell, Desmarais, Hannah Gomez, Christina Hall, Jessop, Leslie Ann Sbeppard, Trainor and Urzendowski). Costuming by Mara Blumenfeld and Mieke van der Ploeg goes from grunge to salvage to plastic bag and wrap and always enhances the characters' performances. Joe Schermoly's scene design and Mike Durst's lighting are visually brilliant."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...It's possible this sounds academic or pretentious, but it's decidedly neither. Interspersed with music by composer Michael Friedman that draws as gleefully from pop culture influences as Washburn's script, and deftly played out by a crack ensemble of young Chicago actors under Jeremy Wechsler's direction (and with special commemoration due to Mara Blumenfeld and Mieka Van Der Ploeg's brilliant, scavenger-style costumes), Mr. Burns is a trippy but persuasive paean to story's power in our perseverance."
Theatre By Numbers - Recommended
"...Seriously, this show has it all, and it's using all of the tools of modern theatre to do it - not big technical splashes, but clever designs, good acting, the right mixture of stillness and explosions. Go have your mind blown with some damn fine theatre."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Ultimately, Mr. Burns is strangely sad. It’s not all that urgent either. It’s actually a somewhat sick joke that’s played on us more than for us. But, no question, Jeremy Wechsler’s knockout production is a glorious extravaganza of dumpster-driven make-believe. The eight actors create their own force field to fuel this energy-deprived aftermath of Commonwealth Edison. For many camp followers, their pizzazz, as much as pop-culture in-jokes and premature nostalgia for the citizens of Springfield, may be entertainment enough."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...I was born after The Simpsons finished its third season, so the idea of the franchise being eternal is not outlandish to me. It is reality. I became annoyed when the characters paraphrased lines while trying to piece the episodes together, and wanted to join in their debate over what was more accurate. It matters, dammit! For Wechsler, using them as a starting point to talk about the comfort of storytelling clearly also comes naturally, because the production is deeply sincere in its fascination with how common touchstones become eternal and universal. Watching this show requires patience. The first two acts serve a purpose that cannot be fully appreciated until the third. Be open to the experience, and you'll leave thinking "your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your season.""
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Kudos to director, Jeremy Wechsler, for assembling a fantastic cast and giving it the tools to truly thrive. The pacing in this show is incredible. There is not a dull moment in the entire piece. The musical director , Andra Velis Simon, did a great job or working with the original music and lyrics by Michale Friedman and Anne Washburn. Of special note to my eyes is scenic director Joe Schermoly, who designed not one, but three equally stunning and alluring sets."
Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Now, it is possible, that since I am not a Simpsons nut, only having seen a few episodes over the years, that the humor of Ms Washburn was lost on me. But, I was not alone. The younger people who were (and perhaps still are) into the animated tv show, did find humor as prior episodes were somehow brought to life, live, on the stage of Theater Wit."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...This show, while it’s quirky and always surprising the audience with the unexpected, also relies a great deal on the audience’s familiarity with the humor and satire of “The Simpsons.” However, as a riff on how popular media has become today’s mythology, inspiring the stuff memories are made of, Anne Washburn’s play with music is an fascinating, enjoyable look into the future of theatre and storytelling."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Somewhat Recommended
"...Washburn has written an ambitious play that takes plenty of risks. But her script is bogged down in an excess of wobbly storytelling that doesn't sustain whatever purpose she intends. As an example of imaginative problem solving staging and acting, "Mr. Burns" is impressive. And doubtless the show would be more meaningful to viewers, unlike myself, who are steeped in the iconography and mythology of the Simpsons and other pop culture ephemera. But in the theater the play is still the thing, and this play is a slog too much of the way. In fairness to the show, most of the opening night audience laughed loudly throughout the evening. I wish I was seeing the play they seemed to be enjoying so demonstratively."
The Fourth Walsh - Recommended
"...MR.BURNS is definitely one-of-a-kind! Although I thought it was a little lengthy especially with two intermissions, I appreciated this visionary salute to The Simpsons. This show oozes ingenuity!"
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Under the deliberate yet freewheeling direction of Jeremy Wechsler, Theater Wit's production of "Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play" is, my apologies in advance, simply electrifying. The cast is stellar, managing to rev up from realistic drama to full-blown opera over the course of the play's three acts. The production design likewise starts with utter simplicity, some trees and effective campfire lighting, and eventually explodes in full, orgiastic spectacle. The play itself is unlike anything else in town, and Wechsler's production is as good as this town has to offer."
