Date of Award

2026-05-01

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Department

Creative Writing

Advisor(s)

Jeffrey Sirkin

Abstract

My thesis examines how the musical The Creature from Space uses metatheatre, musical form, and science fiction to explore identity, conformity, and social control within a fictional 1950s Texas town. Centered on Lilly, a young woman struggling between loyalty to her hometown and the desire for personal freedom, the musical reimagines conventions of the Golden Age American musical while critiquing the ideological structures embedded within them. Drawing on works such as Oklahoma!, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Schmigadoon!, Little Shop of Horrors, and Ride the Cyclone, the project examines how musical theatre constructs and reinforces social roles through performance. The arrival of an extraterrestrial creature capable of controlling the townspeople's minds externalizes the culture of conformity already embedded within Verdon. The arrival of an extraterrestrial creature that exerts mind control over the town literalizes the pressures of conformity already present within Verdon's culture. Influenced by Bertolt Brecht's alienation effect and the social critique of The Twilight Zone, the musical uses self-aware theatricality to reveal how identity, community, and narrative itself are shaped by systems of performance and control.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

169 p.

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Monroe Nathaniel Oxley

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