Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play
Costume Designer • Purdue Theatre • Spring 2023
• Production Photos • Renderings • Research •
Mr. Burns begins shortly after an apocalypse, the characters wear a combination of clothing they grabbed while fleeing their homes and things they pillaged. In the second act, seven years later, they have learned to survive without electricity. Techniques originally used to make clothing last, like adding patchwork or hand making items, have developed into a new fashion. In the third act, 75 years later, the technology has improved, but the story they are telling has been passed through word of mouth, so the visuals have morphed. Some parts of these costumes are still true to original Simpsons characters, but have aspects, like shape or color that have changed, or mixed up with other characters.
Costume Design: Mae Berg
Asst. Costume: Ning Goff
Director: Zack Neiditch
Scenic Design: Ryan Douglass
Lighting Design: Hannah Grace Harper
Sound Design: Grant Porter
Stage Manager: Darby Blum
Photos: Mae Berg and Madeleine Yang
Renderings
Pastel
Research
The research for this show encompassed a wide variety of sources, from modern day clothing for Act 1, to found object and pop sources for Act 2, to oversized mascot and cult like robes for Act 3. These disparate sources helped create the differences between worlds, while using the Simpsons as a center point. I also had never seen the Simpsons before designing this show, and binge watched 33 seasons before starting as research.