Queen Victoria Steampunk Opera

Queen Victoria’s Floating Garden of Secrets and Natural Wonders, 
and
Prometheus Petrobust, a Play within a Play

Libretto and Music by Mary Lin & Ben Sargent 
an Inventing Earth Collaboration

NEW! See our video and appeal on Kickstarter: help Inventing Earth make this opera a reality.

Also see the the article "Why Steampunk? An Inventing Earth Manifesto"

Preview scheduled for Sept 2011- Great New England Steampunk Exhibition in

Fitchburg, Massachusetts just outside Boston:

see http://www.thegreatnewenglandsteampunkexhibition.com/index.html for more details.

Inventing Earth has been invited to present a scene or arias from the operetta for this international steampunk convention. We will also present a workshop on the topic.

Set on the HMS Annelid, a discovery ship in the spirit of Charles Darwin’s HMS Beagle intermarried with Jules Verne’s Nautilus, this operetta surfs 19th-century science, history, and geography in a spirited and a times salacious romp on the high seas worthy of Gilbert and Sullivan, with touches of Terry Gilliom and Euripides adding high colour. 

In this alternate future, the Thirteen Colonies have seen the error their ways and reunited with their fair queen. All of creation is “subject” to inquiry. The opera takes place during a Inspection by the Queene on the Annelid’s return from a Homeric and triumphant exploration of far-flung corners of the map, loaded down with newly discovered, exotic specimens. Pirate lasses mutiny, womenfolk can’t keep their petticoats down, contraptions impressively malfunction, and frank discussions of anatomy are all in a day’s work while in service to Her Majesty the Queen. 

Prometheus Petrobust, A Play within a Play, has been adapted from the eponymous archetypal fire opera originally designed for outdoor venues. Our goal is to present both indoor and outdoor versions of Victoria/Prometheus in 2012. Please contact us if you're interested in helping make this dream a reality. Both versions will be produced as workshop productions of Inventing Earth.