Electric Madonna
(or, Our Lady of the Galvanic Circuit)
(4m / 4w)
Drama - 115 min
Characters
JOHN MURRAY SPEAR m. 50s. Unitarian minister turned spiritualist. Tall and charismatic.
ELIZA KENNEY f. mid 40s, spiritualist medium, feminist, activist.
STEAMPUNK BEN m. 40s or older. Deceased.
CAROLINE HINKLEY f. mid 20s. Crusader for prison reform. Young and pretty.
CHORUS / MARY SHELLEY f.
CHORUS / ADIN BALLOU m.
CHORUS / ADA LOVELACE f.
CHORUS / FRIEDERICH WÖHLER m.
Synopsis
In 1852, John Murray Spear gave up his ministry for a new calling, spreading the message of Spiritualism bringing universal harmony to the earth by constructing an Electric Messiah. While Spear claimed that the spirit of Ben Franklin was dictating instructions for the device, the audience has Steampunk Ben to introduce the women whom Spear promised would serve as Madonna to his machine, the tangle of events and romantic relationships that followed, to question Mary Shelly and Ada Lovelace about the science involved, and to ultimately ask if our beliefs are so different from those of that era.
Performance History
n/a
