The Great Work

We're baaaaaaack.

I thought I would take a moment to update the beginnings of THE BOOK. People over on FB's Forum for Science Fiction in the Theatre bemoaned the lack of their very own book. They wanted a history of their own and a text to refer to when talking about a tradition. So, I'm stepping up to the plate, and with their collective help, a book will eventually emerge. Since I can't exactly create some long update for the forum, I thought I would post occasional progress reports here and perhaps they can leave comments and suggestions.

You see, I think that this is really a collaboration. Isn't that always what anything theatrical has been? Much of the material isn't housed in a library or archive nor have many of the playscripts been published. So, interested individuals should chime in, send me materials, memories, things you wrote . . . Just point stuff out, and I'll write and make sense of it.

The reason I so desperately need this is really simple. I cannot research what isn't there. It is around 11:20am as I write this. A break was needed because I've been at the initial stages of finding material since about 8am. At this stage I'm collecting some primary research (playscripts) and a bulk of secondary materials (critical essays, etc.) Mostly, what I'm doing right now is focusing on secondary material to see what other scholars or artists may have already written about sf in the theatre.

And the answer is not much.

I've found four texts that refer directly to science fiction and theatre. You already know my feelings on the Willingham book ::slight sudder:: which was published in 1994. Three others exists, but they are dissertations/theses that were published in 1987, 1992, and 2002 respectively. Granted I'm sure there are untapped articles in journals I have yet to unearth, but thus far . . . well, there's just not much here. Which is actually a good thing, this means the work I'm doing on the material is necessary.

It also means my keynote address for Stage the Future is going to be filled with chewy theatrical sf goodness.

That's your initial progress report. Just remember with little or no prior existing material that means the community will need to work together to dig up those past performances.