{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/18967"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/18967","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Science fiction and the theatre","abstract":"Though science fiction has won widespread acceptance in popular literature and motion pictures, the theatre has produced few science-fiction plays of merit. This study offers two possible reasons: the stigma of pulp literature which the genre has borne since its formative period in the 1930s, and the myth that science fiction cannot be convincingly presented on the stage. The author seeks to encourage better science-fiction playwriting by studying its failures in comparison with the genre's literary advances, and by demonstrating that believable science-fictional events can be presented on stage.","abstract_html":"Though science fiction has won widespread acceptance in popular literature and motion pictures, the theatre has produced few science-fiction plays of merit. This study offers two possible reasons: the stigma of pulp literature which the genre has borne since its formative period in the 1930s, and the myth that science fiction cannot be convincingly presented on the stage. The author seeks to encourage better science-fiction playwriting by studying its failures in comparison with the genre's literary advances, and by demonstrating that believable science-fictional events can be presented on stage.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Willingham, Ralph Allen"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Theatre","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Graves, Robert B."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-05-07T11:52:53Z","date_published":"2011-05-07T11:52:53Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:12Z","subjects":["Literature, Modern","Theater"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Copyright 1991 Willingham, Ralph Allen"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["AAI9124505","(UMI)AAI9124505"],"render_values":[{"text":"AAI9124505","href":null,"code":true},{"text":"(UMI)AAI9124505","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/18967","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Graves, Robert B."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Willingham, Ralph Allen"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2011-05-07T11:52:53Z","10000-01-01","1991"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Theatre"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Literature, Modern","Theater"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 1991 Willingham, Ralph Allen"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["AAI9124505","(UMI)AAI9124505","http://hdl.handle.net/2142/18967"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Though science fiction has won widespread acceptance in popular literature and motion pictures, the theatre has produced few science-fiction plays of merit. This study offers two possible reasons: the stigma of pulp literature which the genre has borne since its formative period in the 1930s, and the myth that science fiction cannot be convincingly presented on the stage. The author seeks to encourage better science-fiction playwriting by studying its failures in comparison with the genre's literary advances, and by demonstrating that believable science-fictional events can be presented on stage.","The principal elements of the study are contained in six chapters. These include a general history of science-fiction plays; a survey of attempts to produce such plays; a critical analysis of six of the best science-fiction plays; a critical analysis of six science-fiction comedies; an exploration of theatrical adaptations of science-fiction narratives and why they tend to fail; and a study of the modern theatre's continual distortion of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a novel generally regarded as the first science-fiction story. Supplemental to the study is a list of approximately three hundred science-fiction dramas, including dates and sites of first performance.","Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-07T11:52:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 4922 bytes, checksum: 910b249b4beec47e7ab768910c8f966f (MD5) 9124505.pdf: 15707950 bytes, checksum: ecf9337c361abb87ef04b3125bcdfb83 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1991","Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by Howard Ding (hding2@illinois.edu) on 2011-05-07T14:33:45Z Item is restricted indefinitely.","Restriction data tranferred 2014-07-01T11:12:35-05:00 Original Data Group with Access UIUC Users [automated] Release Date: none Reason: ETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permission","ETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permission","U of I Only"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Science fiction and the theatre"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Graves, Robert B."],"dc:creator":["Willingham, Ralph Allen"],"dc:date":["2011-05-07T11:52:53Z","10000-01-01","1991"],"dc:description":["Though science fiction has won widespread acceptance in popular literature and motion pictures, the theatre has produced few science-fiction plays of merit. This study offers two possible reasons: the stigma of pulp literature which the genre has borne since its formative period in the 1930s, and the myth that science fiction cannot be convincingly presented on the stage. The author seeks to encourage better science-fiction playwriting by studying its failures in comparison with the genre's literary advances, and by demonstrating that believable science-fictional events can be presented on stage.","The principal elements of the study are contained in six chapters. These include a general history of science-fiction plays; a survey of attempts to produce such plays; a critical analysis of six of the best science-fiction plays; a critical analysis of six science-fiction comedies; an exploration of theatrical adaptations of science-fiction narratives and why they tend to fail; and a study of the modern theatre's continual distortion of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a novel generally regarded as the first science-fiction story. Supplemental to the study is a list of approximately three hundred science-fiction dramas, including dates and sites of first performance.","Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-07T11:52:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 4922 bytes, checksum: 910b249b4beec47e7ab768910c8f966f (MD5) 9124505.pdf: 15707950 bytes, checksum: ecf9337c361abb87ef04b3125bcdfb83 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1991","Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by Howard Ding (hding2@illinois.edu) on 2011-05-07T14:33:45Z Item is restricted indefinitely.","Restriction data tranferred 2014-07-01T11:12:35-05:00 Original Data Group with Access UIUC Users [automated] Release Date: none Reason: ETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permission","ETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permission","U of I Only"],"dc:identifier":["AAI9124505","(UMI)AAI9124505","http://hdl.handle.net/2142/18967"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 1991 Willingham, Ralph Allen"],"dc:subject":["Literature, Modern","Theater"],"dc:title":["Science fiction and the theatre"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Theatre"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:12Z"}