Andrew Simonson, Samford News Network
Samford’s theatre department will perform their second production of the fall, “Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play,” from October 27-30.
Following their opening production of the family musical “Orphie and the Book of Heroes” in the Harrison Theatre, the crew moved to the Boren Courtyard for “Mr. Burns,” the only outdoor performance of the 2022-23 season.
“Mr. Burns” is about a group of people who survived the apocalypse recounting classic stories from “The Simpsons” in a world without electricity.
It is the first outdoor play since the renovations to Buchanan Hall finished. The crew constructed the full set from scratch to take advantage of the unique outdoor setting.
Head lighting designer Alex Felts discussed the challenges of staging an outdoor play, which, ironically, takes place in a society without lights.
“One thing, especially on the lighting side, is we’ve had to install truss, we’ve had to focus lights towards an outdoor stage, which means we have to be here late at night, and just programming, it’s just all different cause you can’t do any of it at day, it all has to be done at night late, so it’s a lot of late nights, but honestly, it’s been a good experience,” Felts said. “Kind of fun, but also very challenging at the same time.”
Four more productions are to come on the 2022-23 calendar, which gives students plenty of chances to see the cast and crew in action at the Harrison Theatre.
Next up is the opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors” from December 1-4, which tells the fictional story of the Magi’s visit to a mother and child on the way to see Jesus in Bethlehem.
To start the spring, the Samford Dance Company will perform their annual show, “Masterpieces,” from February 9-12.
The theatre department will then finish the semester with “The Birds,” which inspired the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, from March 16-19, and the musical “Urinetown,” from April 13-16.
Felts said that the variety of productions that the theatre program puts on helps prepare the students well for when they graduate.
“What we try to do here is create an experience that’s very similar to the professional world, especially on the technical side,” Felts said. “We make plots and stuff, which is what you see in the professional world, we have stage managers that are assisted by someone who’s worked on Broadway before. Everyone here, all of the professors, have a background working outside of Samford in working in the professional world.”
Tickets can be purchased at tickets.samford.edu and are discounted for Samford students and faculty.
