Introductory description

Theatre and Science Fiction introduces participants to the study of science fiction as a mode of socio-political commentary in contemporary stage performance. Through engagement with a range of texts and productions, the module invites students to consider how the imaginative and speculative qualities of science fiction can draw critical attention towards current anxieties. Placing these theatrical examples in dialogue with academic theory, topical world events, and examples of science fiction from other media, the module enables students to interrogate multiple systemic challenges including economic inequality, climate breakdown, nationhood, and artificial intelligence.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

• Week 1: Introduction - what is science fiction?
  This week, we will explore popular and academic definitions of science fiction, drawing on examples from film, TV and literature before turning to theatre.
  Reading:
  Sherryl Vint, ‘What is science fiction?', Science Fiction: A Guide for the Perplexed, Bloomsbury, 2014.
• Week 2: Time travel.
  This week, we turn to one of the key images of science fiction: the time machine. Via the work of Alistair McDowall, we will consider how this trope can be used in performance to engage with critical commentary around class.
  Reading:
  Alistair McDowall, Brilliant Adventures, Bloomsbury, 2014.
  Imogen Tyler, ‘Social Abjection’, Revolting Subjects: Social Abjection and Resistance in Neoliberal Britain, Zed Books, 2013.
• Week 3: Dystopia.
  Building on last week's focus on class, this week we turn to dystopia, one of the most popular and expansive subgenres within science fiction. With reference to scholarship from Butler and others, we will consider the ways in which dystopia critiques wider social structures.
  Reading:
  Ella Road, The Phlebotomist, Oberon Books, 2018.
  Judith Butler, Frames of War: When is Life Grievable?, Verso, 2009.
• Week 4: Post-apocalypse.
  Centred on the collapse and gradual rebirth of society, post-apocalyptic narratives invite us to reflect on the construction of communities; who is included, who is excluded, and why. Tajinder Singh Hayer's play provides our way in for thinking about nationhood in post-Brexit Britain.
  Reading:
  Tajinder Singh Hayer, North Country, Methuen, 2018.
  Nadine Holdsworth, Theatre & Nation, Palgrave, 2010.
• Week 5: Robots.
  A staple of science fiction, robots disturb the boundary between human and nonhuman. Drawing on theories around care, we will consider how robots in science fiction and real life function as substitutes for our interpersonal relationships.
  Reading:
  Vlad Butucea, ‘Glowstick’, Interference, 2019.
  Berenice Fisher and Joan Tronto, ‘Toward a Feminist Theory of Caring’, Circles of Care: Work and Identity in Women’s Lives, ed. E.K. Abel and M.K. Nelson, State University of New York Press, 1990.
• Week 7: Cyborgs.
  Expanding our focus on robots, we turn this week to the part-flesh, part-machine cyborg. Drawing on Donna Haraway amongst others, we will examine how science-fictional flesh/technology hybrids can collapse the boundaries between object and subject, self and other.
  Viewing:
  RashDash and Unlimited Theatre, Future Bodies, 2018.
  Reading:
  Donna Haraway, “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century”, Manifestly Haraway, 2016.
• Week 8: Singularity.
  Rounding out our focus on technology, we will look at the depiction of artificial (super)intelligence in theatre. With reference to the recent play More Life, we will consider how the goals of billionaire libertarian entrepreneurs are disproportionately shaping our relationship with technology, body and self.
  Reading:
  Lauren Mooney and James Yeatman, More Life. Nick Hern Books, 2025.
  Nick Bostrom, ‘Human Genetic Enhancements: A Transhumanist Perspective’, Journal of Value Inquiry 37: 493–506, 2003.
• Week 9: presentation check-ins.
  This week, each presentation group will have allotted time to meet with the tutor to discuss their work.
• Week 10: group presentations.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Exhibit knowledge of the histories, images and themes of science fiction
• Demonstrate an understanding of key theories associated with the study of science fiction
• Identify and interrogate the relationship between science fiction and contemporary society
• Analyse the socio-political implications of theatrical texts and performances that draw on science fiction
• Effectively integrate academic theory into the examination of playtexts, performance recordings and other theatrical material
• Respond creatively to science fiction through the design of a theatrical production
• Effectively utilise formal and stylistic conventions to engage the audience

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Research element

Both assessments require students to undertake a process of research into specific theatrical productions, as well as the careful investigation and selection of appropriate academic theory.

Interdisciplinary

• Science fiction is interdisciplinary by nature, with the genre encompassing a range of forms including theatre, film, television and literature. While the emphasis will be on theatre, other media will be discussed throughout the module.
• Analysis of science fiction necessitates drawing on a broad range of disciplines including literary studies, film studies, politics, ecology, biology, psychology, sociology, gender studies, queer studies and more. Students will therefore be regularly introduced to a variety of interdisciplinary texts and perspectives.

International

Science fiction exists across cultures and responds uniquely to regional, national, and global contexts. While most of the texts encountered within the module will be drawn from British, European and American stages, the assessments open up opportunities for students to engage with plays and productions from around the world.

Subject specific skills

• Engagement with science fiction studies
• Application of academic theories to plays
• Performance analysis
• Textual analysis

Transferable skills

• Analysis and decision making
• Cognitive ability
• Communicative skills (oral, written)
• Critical thinking
• Independent research
• Interpersonal communication
• Problem solving
• Project planning and execution
• Self-organisation
• Teamwork
• Time management