The Dolls of New Albion: A Steampunk Opera

 

 

A Steampunk Opera is a 4-Act play composed and written by Paul Shapera. So far, there has only been a workshop performance, but the audio version of the entire play can be found here.

The Steampunk Opera follows four generations of Mc Alistairs, beginning with the Mad Scientist Annabelle, who is attempting to raise from the dead the love of her life. The story is told by an all-knowing Narrator.

The story is set in the fantastical Steampunk city of New Albion. Each act contains a song sung by the Narrator who describes the history and culture of the city. As each new generation passes, the city grows and evolves too, along with the people in it.

There is a sequel The New Albion Radio Hour available for your listening pleasure. The entire album is availablehere.

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Tropes:

• All-Knowing Singing Narrator
• All Love Is Unrequited: The only character with a requited love interest marries her ex-fiancee when he threatens to keep her from her father, whom he just brought back from the dead.
  • Also, even though all of the Mc Alisters are strangely in love with Jasper, Priscilla is the only person he truly loves back. It doesn’t end well
• Back from the Dead: Jasper. After Annabelle brings him back and then kills him because he asked her to, Edgar brings him back AGAIN.
  • All of the dolls in New Albion are this really.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Jasper, after four generations of begging for death, he finally get’s his wish- at the cost of Priscilla’ life
• Chekhov’s Gun: Annabelle’s notes.
• City of Weirdos: Annabelle struts around New Albion with a life-sized mechanical doll and no one seems to care, probably because there is a lot of weirder stuff going on.
  Narrator: “New Albion today / With bustling streets, machines, cafes / And the nice, the wise, the eccentric and insane”
• Death Seeker: Jasper is one thought all four acts Eventually he gets his wish, but at the cost of Priscilla’s life
• Dystopia: After Act III, New Albion becomes this.
• Generational Saga: Each acts follows a new generation in the Mc Alistair family.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Edgar, big time. Destroyed the home and livelihood of the man his girlfriend left him for in order to make her desprate enough to give into his blackmail
  Edgar: There’s a man they call Sillof, and he once stole my girl. I want him destroyed, all he has in this world. His business, his home, and his carriage all crushed. I want him left penniless, face down in the dust!
• Heroic Sacrifice: Priscilla sacrifices her life so Jasper can die (again.)
  • Jasper stays alive, despite wishing to return to the afterlife because if he is caught, his entire family will be killed.
• Incompatible Orientation: Amelia to Byron. Have I mentioned All Love Is Unrequited?
• Intellectual Animal: The cat burglars’ “pet albatross Simon and a brilliant mouse named Sam.”
• Ironic Echo: There’s like ten of these. Some of the more obvious examples:
  • When Priscilla dies, the Narrator reverses her lines from Annabella has a Doll.
  • Also, Priscilla reverses Annabella’s lines back in Annabella Raises the Dead.
  • Jasper also mimics the “Be my angel” lines from Annabella, which may be more or less ironic since he actually knew her and heard those lines.
• Lightning Can Do Anything: The exact process Annabelle uses to bring Jasper back to life is never said, but the line “With voltage I invoke!” seems to imply this.
• Mad Scientist: Annabelle.
• Narrator
• Only Child Syndrome: All four generations of Mc Alistairs appear to be only children.
• Revenge: Big time. Edgar makes this his life’s mission after Fay leaves him. Once he succeeds, Fay vows revenge unto him.
  Edgar: “One day, you will learn, and you will burn like my heart burns!”
  • Soldier 7285 eventually vows this Upon the government of New Albion after Priscilla’s death
• Steampunk: The Dolls of New Albion:A ”Steampunk” Opera
• Word of God: Paul Shapera has a blog where he sometimes gives extra background information about the world and the characters.
• You Are Number Six: Soldier 7285.

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! OMG THAT IS SO FRICKIN AWESOME!

“But Paul, aren’t you weirded out that they just reduced your whole story to cliches?”

HELL NO. Look folks, stories are stories. They use plot deviced. ALL stories do this. You can subvert them, you can milk them, but you can’t avoid them. It’s okay. Sometimes the very act of properly using a trope IS what makes it enjoyable. Sometimes you go to a restaurant to get a VERY particular meal. You WANT the specific familiarity. Now with stories, there should be surprises and originality, but at the end of the day, you’re not going avoid plot devices. I am very proud of the list of plot devices pointed out. It’s a quality list. Just make sure you choose a quality list of tropes and you’ll be okay.

PLUS, you SHOULD be more aware of what are overused tropes. Dumb stories are annoying. Better stories are better. Ever watch a TV show from like, 40 years ago an think “JEEZUZ CHRISTANGELS THIS IS SOOOOO STUPID . HOW COULD PEOPLE WATCH THIS TRIPE?” and then you feel very grateful that show today are WAY the hell better? (Because for the record they are. TV is in a golden age. I’m not saying there isn’t a HUGE hunk of terrible television, but there’s SO much good stuff and the good stuff is of a caliber NEVER EVER seen on TV before. Like is said, watch some thing from the 80s or 70s. It’s SO FREAKIN BAD) This is because all the people making the great tv shows you’re seeing today were raised on that crappy stuff, recognized all the tropes and work hard to either subvert them, avoid them or better them. THANK YOU TV TROPES! YOU DO THE WORK OF THE ANGELS>

I gotta do the Diselpunk Opera too! Once again, you REALLY should go to to the actual TV Tropes page. Most of the text does not show up here must be highlighted in order to see.

Audio Play: The New Albion Radio Hour