Elizabeth Dinkova, inventive director of Spooky Motion Theater, is directing the upcoming College of Maryland College of Theatre, Dance, and Efficiency Research’ (TDPS) manufacturing of Anne Washburn’s Mr. Burns: A Publish-Electrical Play at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Middle. Rebecca Calkin, director of promoting and communications for performing arts with the UMD’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, sat down together with her to speak in regards to the quirky post-apocalyptic play. (This dialog has been edited for readability and size.)
Rebecca Calkin: I noticed the unique manufacturing of Mr. Burns at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Firm in 2012, early in my theater profession, and was instantly an enormous fan of the play. Ten years later, I moved to the DMV for a job as director of promoting at Woolly Mammoth, largely due to how a lot I liked this piece. And now it’s being staged right here at The Clarice. So this play could be very near my coronary heart, and a part of why I’m notably excited to speak with you!
How did you come to this mission at UMD, particularly amidst your very busy schedule as inventive director at Spooky Motion Theater?
Elizabeth Dinkova: I used to be approached by UMD to direct a present and was introduced with two present choices for this season, and I had not learn or seen the play till this chance got here up. As a director and a author, I’ve a particular curiosity within the methods wherein artists reply to moments of disaster or political or social turmoil. I’ve carried out a variety of analysis and I’ve written a few reveals about artist relationships to harmful works that make them targets for oppressive political regimes or which have unintended penalties past what the artist imagined.
Mr. Burns was such a good looking, mischievous, and transferring testomony to a gaggle of individuals’s love for a narrative and the best way wherein a narrative could rework over time to take a special place in tradition. You traverse three totally different time intervals the place this specific episode of The Simpsons, “Cape Feare,” begins out as one thing that’s low tradition, used for leisure when the electrical energy has gone down. By the tip of the present, it has turn into a testomony to the resilience of a tradition that has survived a serious apocalypse.
I really like fascinated about how a murals morphs, and in addition how it’s a little bit of a Rorschach check for the preoccupations of a group. And the way transferring it may be to see artists defend that work in a world wherein these works are important for survival.
The final time we talked, you talked about a very good analog being Station Eleven [a book by Emily St. John Mandel and an HBO miniseries], which can also be in regards to the resilience of individuals after an apocalyptic scenario, utilizing artwork as a method of conserving a spark of hope alive and speaking one thing important about their humanity.
With Mr. Burns, I got here to the piece initially as a fan of The Simpsons, but in addition of storytelling as a theater artist myself. Do you will have any connection to The Simpsons? And if not, how do you see individuals who don’t have a lot familiarity with The Simpsons connecting with the piece?
I’m Bulgarian, and I didn’t get to the States till I used to be in school. So I by no means noticed a full episode of The Simpsons till I used to be directing this present. I solely knew what they seemed like and somewhat bit in regards to the tone and the cultural attachment to The Simpsons. I really purposefully stored it that manner by among the early phases of the design course of as a result of it was really helpful for me to be responding to design concepts as an individual with a distant connection to The Simpsons moderately than deep data and familiarity. However midway by the design course of, I began to look at it, beginning with the “Cape Feare” episode talked about within the present.
The primary time I learn the play, I didn’t really feel alienated or confused by what was happening. Nonetheless, it’s actually necessary that it’s The Simpsons, as that present has such a large influence and lengthy historical past of being a mirrored image of in style considerations of the time. After which the visuals, proper? I keep in mind studying someplace that Anne Washburn additionally thought of Buddies as supply materials for this play, however the visuals are usually not as iconic.
We’ve got some assets from a very gifted pupil dramaturg, and the pre-show, enjoying distorted items of Simpsons episodes, giving the viewers a style of the tone and visuals of The Simpsons.
Within the third act, a lot time has handed and the characters are far faraway from a time once they may really watch the episode. It’s turn into this sport of phone with distorted reminiscences. And to your level, if you happen to watch the “Cape Feare” episode of The Simpsons, you may get pleasure from it with out having seen Cape Concern the movie, despite the fact that the episode closely references it.
Sure, that may be a nice and helpful parallel; it’s an adaptation of an adaptation of an adaptation.
With this present spanning a long time and displaying a number of phases of this post-apocalyptic world, with the story being twisted and altered, there’s such enjoyable alternatives for designers. What had been among the guiding factors in conversations with designers to create the world of the play?
One of many large values was undoubtedly transformation, particularly seeing how photographs rework over the course of those three acts. It felt like that trajectory visually may parallel the trajectory of how The Simpsons story itself transforms. One of many central photographs of the manufacturing is {an electrical} transmission tower that not works. At the start, you see that looming within the distance. Within the second act, it’s extra obscured. After which within the third act, it turns into virtually a temple to The Simpsons and electrical energy.
Equally, when it got here to the projection and lighting designs, it was this attention-grabbing notion of how do you painting, in an indoor theatrical house, a world that has misplaced electrical energy? We talked about discovering methods for projection to seem like magic, shadows that begin to appear like various things, taking up lifetime of their very own. For lighting, depicting extra pure environments and localized sources.
When it got here to the costume design, the primary two acts are extra steady since they’re the identical characters. Within the first act, we inform the story of who these persons are, as a result of that is an ensemble of misfits, a gaggle that’s cobbled collectively from individuals who have met one another on the street. Within the second act, they’ve now turn into a group they usually’re additionally constructing their very own aesthetic for the way they translate The Simpsons characters in theatrical methods. After which within the third act, seeing what occurs as soon as these Simpsons figures have metastasized into these heroic, iconic, virtually spiritual figures. So there’s this journey throughout a variety of parts of design, from the extra mainstream to the just about sacred within the third act.
There’s additionally the sound and music within the play. Some enjoyable pop numbers in act two, however then we get a a lot totally different expertise of music in act three. The viewers doesn’t should know the entire musical references, however it’s enjoyable whenever you hear Easter eggs of songs and melodies that you might have heard earlier than. How do you strategy this hybrid of theater with musical theater?
One of many issues that’s fascinating in regards to the play is how our relationship to instrumentation adjustments in a world with out electrical energy, as a result of we’ve discovered to rely a lot on electrical instrumentation and sampling and observe mixing in our present tradition.
It was an identical world-building train within the sonic-world considering: “what devices would persist and the way would we use them?” String devices would most likely stay, however what the strings are manufactured from would possibly change. There’s a variety of unusual sounds within the orchestration, this notion of a trash orchestra the place then there are sounds and textures which are produced by issues that aren’t purported to be musical devices. The ensemble vocals, each within the second act and within the third act, are actually cool to listen to, centering the human voice after which augmenting with these different intelligent methods of what a post-electric musical panorama could sound like.
I can’t wait to listen to the best way the orchestration’s been tailored! One last query: what’s it been like working with TDPS college students and the group at The Clarice?
UMD is among the finest theatrical design MFA applications within the nation, and it’s nice with the ability to work with college students who’re at a really particular section of their inventive growth, the place they’ve absorbed so many insights from their research and are actually getting to place that into observe with actually glorious logistical and manufacturing assist from the varsity. That is undoubtedly one of many extra elaborate productions I’ve labored on shortly, so I actually respect how properly supported we’ve been on the manufacturing facet [at The Clarice].
After which on the appearing facet as properly, it’s so nice to work with undergraduate college students who are available in extraordinarily ready, with nice questions and ideas and concepts. The best way they assist one another, and assist me, has been actually joyous. I really feel very excited by the best way wherein we, as a group of theatermakers, making an attempt to make this piece about making theater, have additionally supported one another.
Mr. Burns: A Publish Electrical Play runs October 9, 10, 15, 16, and 18, 2026, at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Middle. Tickets can be found at The Clarice’s web site, with free pupil tickets out there to UMD college students.
