Mr Burns, Almeida Theatre

Visions of disaster-ridden America are nothing new, but Anne Washburn offers a post-apocalyptic world like no other. This imaginative, wacky new play dazzled and dizzied audiences in New York, where it made its premiere last year, and is a characteristically bold choice for Rupert Goold’s first season as artistic director of the Almeida.

Mr Burns imagines a world robbed of electricity, where the survivors of nuclear meltdown tell fireside tales of The Simpsons – the cultural heritage of the modern world. Of course The Simpsons itself is a riot of cultural references, borrowing irreverently from history, literature and pop culture, which is where Washburn’s play gets really smart. This is an imagined future where people tell stories about stories about stories.

Before that thought fries your brain with its postmodern self-referentiality, be reassured that Mr Burns is also by all accounts hilarious, moving and surprisingly sincere. We are also betting that the Almeida’s version of this new play will bring the dazzle and scope that we have come to expect from recent Headlong hits such as Chimerica, American Psycho and 1984, offering a tantalising marriage of script and production.

Goold has brought in trusted collaborator and Almeida associate Robert Icke to direct, so we have high hopes that he can inject Washburn’s play with the same energy and intelligence he brought to his joint adaptation of 1984. We are also excited to see that another of Goold’s regular collaborators, designer Tom Scutt, has been brought on board. After falling in love with his ingenious balloon-inspired design for Constellations, we can’t wait to see the visual world he dreams up for this ambitious vision of the future.