DYSTOPIAN VISION OF 2052 IN HENLEY’S “SIGNATURE”

Abstract

Modern drama tends to catch up with the representation of the dystopian alternative worlds much like the contemporary mass culture. Sci-fi and dystopian productions become popular onstage because the medical and technological breakthroughs occur so rapidly in our present-day life that the humanity fails to reflect them properly. There are the following main features pertaining to science fiction in drama, namely dystopian play: fantastical concepts in tune with the modern scientific theory; the illusion of authenticity via scientific methodology; creation of a fictional world on the basis of the factors and tendencies of wide public importance. The aim of this article is to study the generic features of sci-fi subgenre of dystopia on the material of Henley’s drama “Signature” (1990). The play written by the US woman dramatist introduces the world deprived of meaningful lives for its characters whose fake values drive them to grave consequences (death, loss of the beloved). This text for staging warns the audience about the devaluation of human life in favor of elusive success. Henley’s 2052 Hollywood is a dystopic space for rather emotionless characters (the T-Thorp brothers, L-Tip, the Reader), who understand their failures and losses when it is too late. The only exception is William, selfless and unafraid of predicaments. The fundamental for the Western civilization phenomenon of love is distorted and disregarded in favor of immediate satisfaction and addiction to fame. Like her predecessors in sci-fi Henley predicts a mass human alienation in not so distant future. Yet the open end of Boswell’s story somewhat decreases the horror of dystopia – there is a remote chance that after anagnorisis the protagonist will find his beloved and make peace with her even though for a very short time. Henley’s dystopia constructs the ambivalent vision of the future, charged with questions of cryonics, cloning, global digitalization, omnipresent euthanasia, environmentalism and feminism.  

Key words: dystopia, drama, signature, Beth Henley, 2052, sci-fi.