Theatre & Dance ETDs

Publication Date

Spring 4-15-2022

Abstract

Using Elinor Fuchs’ “Visit to a Small Planet” as inspiration, I consider my play Remain in Light as its own small planet, examining theories of world-building, science fiction, and utopian performativity to investigate possible functions of imaginary worlds onstage. In chapter one, I appropriate Fuchs’ script analysis exercise for my own purposes of play development, discovering a world of sensory detail that parallels the characters’ experience in the play. In chapter two, I conceive of the play’s starship as an imaginary world crashing towards this one, its escape a hopeful reflection on the utopian possibilities of alternate worlds. In chapter three, I examine how the play’s characters imagine alternatives to their circumstances while refusing to comply with the rules of their world. In the fourth and final chapter, I consider the play as an incomplete world in terms of my writing process and the inherent incompleteness of theatrical performance scripts.

Degree Name

Dramatic Writing

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Theatre & Dance

First Committee Member (Chair)

Dr. Dominika Laster

Second Committee Member

Kate Clarke

Third Committee Member

Lisa Chavez

Fourth Committee Member

Erik Ehn

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Download

Share

COinS