Seed

COMPOSER: Gerald Cohen
LIBRETTIST: David Simpatico

Developed at American Lyric Theater under the auspices of the Composer Librettist Development Program.

MEDIA | MATERIALS

Seed.png

Available for Production

ORCHESTRATION:

Piano Only

CHORUS:

None

ROLES:

3 Singers
ADAM (Tenor)
EVANGELINE (Mezzo-Soprano)
SNAKE (Baritone)

DURATION:

43’

 

One hundred years ago, The Great Nuclear Holy War devastated the planet. Now, Adam and Evangeline, the last two people on Earth, safeguard the global seed depository deep inside in the Doomsday Botanical Seed Vault. Suffering the pangs of the encroaching human extinction, suddenly, they hear a voice on the other side of the vault door. Someone is alive, outside…

Synopsis

Prologue:

Three storytellers set the stage for the sacred tale they are about to tell.

Scene 1:

Doomsday Botanical Seed Vault, underground repository of the world’s organic vegetation and crop seed samples; 100 years after the great nuclear Holy War, the fallout from which has left all males sterile.  The Elixir of God is a sacred, genetically enhanced serum designed to reverse sterility, and is to be taken only by the prophesied Chosen One, according to the strict dictates of the Holy Book. But the Chosen One has not come; the human race seems condemned to die out with Adam and Evangeline, the final caretakers of the seed vault. Desperate to find any other survivors outside in what they believe to be a burning, uninhabitable world, they make daily, but futile, call-outs on the Ham Radio. Adam discovers Evangeline has stolen and hidden the sacred Elixir; she begs him to take it in order that they may procreate, but he refuses, maintaining the rigid dogma of the Holy Book: he is not the Chosen One; he is nothing, a non-entity. As he rushes off to find the vial, Evangeline pulls it from its hiding place, and prays for a miracle. Just as she loses hope, she gets a message on the Ham Radio: a survivor, outside the doors, pleading for seed. Stunned, Evangeline packs a bag of apple seeds, grabs the elixir, and runs out via an unused, secret side entrance, into the unknown.

Scene Two:

A barren field outside.  Evangeline, amazed at the world outside, meets Snake, a nomadic survivor; his chest is adorned with a Cobra tattoo. Initially wary of each other’s historic enemy, they struggle across a language barrier; she begs him to trust her and take the Elixir so she can conceive a child; he begs for seeds so he can start to replant the earth before he dies. Playing Devil’s Advocate, Snake finally believes Evangeline’s sincerity and need. Sorting through matters of allegiance and faith, they arrive at an agreement: she gives him the apple seeds, he takes the Elixir, and makes love to Evangeline. As they embrace, Evangeline sees her first ever, naturally grown, genuine apple hanging from the tree over them.

Scene Three:

The Doomsday Botanical Seed Vault. One hour later. Evangeline returns to a dejected Adam, handing him the half-emptied Elixir. She tells him of the outside world, and of the existence of Snake. Stunned, Adam demands proof; Evangeline gives him an apple from outside. Clearly, they have never seen a real apple, grown outside in the natural world. Holding the apple, feeling the proof of the outside world, Adam’s life changes in the span of a heartbeat. He takes the remaining Elixir, and aligns with Evangeline. They open the vault doors, stepping into the world together where Snake, and the future, await.

 

Media

Video

 

Materials

Piano Vocal Score

 

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