Which elements of our culture would survive a nuclear disaster? And how do the stories with which we entertain or define ourselves change over time? These are just some of the questions American playwright Anne Washburn asks in her 2012 work Mr Burns, a Post-Electric Play.

Set in the wake of a widespread nuclear power-plant failure that has left America without electricity, its population decimated, the play opens on a band of survivors huddled around a bin fire, drinking beer and passing the time by piecing together an episode of The Simpsons from memory (a comparison by the New York Times’ Ben Brantley of this scenario to Boccaccio’s 14th-century set of stories within a story, The Decameron, is particularly apt).

Mr Burns, A Post-Electric Play, BelvoirMitchell Butel, Esther Hannaford, Jacqy Phillips and Brent Hill in Mr Burns, a Post-Electric Play. Photos © Brett Boardman

The reconstruction of Cape Feare (the second episode of The Simpsons’ fifth season) is led by Matt – an obvious Simpsons aficionado played fervently by Brent Hill – and Jenny (Esther Hannaford), who throws herself into the reminiscence with enthusiasm. Sam (Ezra Juanta) chimes in every now and...