The Valley theater department puts on Mr. Burns A Post Electric Play amidst ongoing displacement.
By Kaia Mann, Opinion Editor
(L-R) Peter Zucchero, Sami Kiel, Sara Kaner, Kurt Swick, Stella Ramirez, Jack Bernaz
take a quick break after dress rehearsal for their group portrait in their costumes. Photo taken at the Monarch Hall at Los Angeles Valley College on March 06, 2024. (Lluvia Marinero Arevalo | Valley Star)
The show must go on for the Valley College theater department despite not having a place to call home for more than 7 years.
Two of the department’s most recent projects include the Laramie Project and Mr. Burns A Post Electric Play. Both of which required the audience to follow their actors in, outside, and around Monarch Hall.
Construction on the Valley Academic and Cultural Center (VACC) building started in 2016, leaving the theater department displaced. They are promised a mainstage, horseshoe and outdoor theater when the VACC is completed but have to settle for random rooms in Monarch Hall in the meantime.
“They (administration) are not adding more classes. They aren't hiring more professors because not enough people are enrolling in the classes.” said Angel Vazquez, the assistant stage manager of Mr. Burns. “In reality, there is actually a real demand and if we have more resources more people will be joining the department.”
Mr. Burns, A Post Electric Play, is a story about the ever-lasting nature of pop culture. It follows a group of people after the apocalypse recounting the Simpsons episode, “Cape Feare.” Act two is set seven years later when they are now in a traveling theater company where stories are used as currency. The last act is set 75 years later where the rendition of the episode is surreally reimagined once again.
One thing that made this performance innovative was the interactive element that Valley brought to the stage. Each of the play’s three acts took place in a different part of the room. Actors moved from the courtyard, to the back of the room, all the way to the stage in front.
Mr. Burns shined in production design. Each act was distinct in the set, costumes and props. Despite an actor having to bow out just days before the opening, the acting and singing hardly faltered. Notable performances include Sami Keil, who stepped in on-book and Sophie Haaland who was a standout singer of the group.
“We're like these nomads that move around from building to building,” said Kurt Swick, a theater major at Valley. “Do I sometimes feel very cheated? Yeah, 'cause it's not fair. But my philosophy is that our theater department is about the people, not the building.
Given the fact that there is no estimated timeline for the VACC construction, the theater department will have to continue their performance season with little to no aid from the college. The drama department has been able to make a bad situation good, taking an already interesting play and putting their own spin on it.
“I love this department so much but after some thinking I'm going to be moving on,” said Vazque. “I need to think about my education in the long run, there's more variety at ELAC and LACC. The administration is contributing to this problem; they are complicit.”