Replicating acts, the libretto's DNA

Inspirations, characterization, replication... Apparently we're on this "ation" kick with the blog, which has been on a vacation. So, in the meantime, here's a clue for unraveling the overall structure of the Building a Better Joshua libretto:




I've modeled the story after a DNA strand undergoing a process of replication into two new, identical strands. The first act might seem simple and straight-forward on the surface, but as much as possible while maintaining relatively simple poetic forms, I've tried to create a double-helix effect of a story going backwards in the background as much as it's going forward in the foreground, and at times, vice versa. The double-helix structure also plays a critical role in one of the final duets of the opera, as the process of DNA replication gets turned on its head.

Don't worry, it's actually probably less confusing on stage than I've just made it sound. In the first act, these two strands wrap around each other: the forward progressing story, that of Chloe and Joshua and their descent into domestic chaos through cloning, has as a counterpoint a backwards moving strand of Dr. Liri reminiscing through flashback a dark personal past as a cosmetic cloning specialist. The two stories interact with each other, as Liri uses the Chloe and Joshua case as a cautionary tale to her students.

In the beginning..,

...there was an allegory.

Battle of Joshua with Amalekites - Nicolas Poussin

My original short story, "Building a Better Joshua," was written at a time when mega-churches were beginning to propagate, and was intended as an allegory about religions being ever more vain clones of the last model. The title character is named after the Hebrew character Joshua, which translates as "God is salvation," and not after anything you'll find in Greek or Roman mythology. That said, the story itself is based somewhat (okay, loosely, very loosely) on Ovid's version of the Narcissus myth, with other characters representing Juno (Dr. June Liri), Echo (Chloe) and Nemesis (Dr. X (Name Redacted)). Obviously you can see that their names fall more in line with their Roman counterparts.

The main plot of the story revolves around romance writer Chloe's attempt to use what's in the future referred to as a cosmetic cloning procedure to make a better husband for herself, as old Joshua's just not cutting it for a woman of her stature anymore. The conflict arises when after meeting his clone, old Joshua doesn't slink off as most inferior originals do, but instead seems to become infatuated with the new, better version of himself. What's worse, for Chloe at least, the clone doesn't seem entirely put off by this attraction.

I'm not going to give a whole lot of the plot away from there yet, but you can rightfully guess that hijinks will ensue.

Narcissus and Echo aren't the only myths influencing the story, and while they haven't been used as often in contemporary culture as they should be, the other myth I heavily borrowed from, that of Pygmalion and the statue, represented in Dr. Liri's interaction with her clone creation, has crossed well into the land of Trite. If I didn't feel that I was keeping that aspect of the story original and putting a different spin on it than say Mary Shelley (or her many many derivatives,) George Bernard Shaw or Richard Powers to name a few, then I might have thought twice about including it. However, I'm vain. I do think I have something new here.

Next week, I'll write about some of the challenges translating this story into a more poetic form, and one case where it's actually been made easier than when writing the original.