Act 3 Scene 1

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Act 3 Scene 1

Act 3 Scene 1 Darwin - powerpoint presentation
a lecture given in response to the question of expertise
Darwin with screen and projections - Barnacles,Sex and Speciation
he is exhausted after the presentation and must rest... office couch is sufficient

score fragment

OFFSTAGE
(spoken) Why should we listen to you?
What do you know?

Verse 1 - Become an Expert

DARWIN
(spoken) Good evening.

A colleague and correspondent,
a good friend I’ve known these many years,
pointed out something to me not very long ago.

He said,

FRIEND
(spoken) Charles,

If you wish to promote a position
from a controversial point of view…
don’t expect people to listen or
to hear your argument through.

BOTH
Unless you take extra care
to be learned in subjects fine and rare;
secure a position of some respect.

FRIEND
For an authority that is sage and wise,
who is highly placed won’t apologize
even for views that antagonize
even for views that are suspect.

Verse 2 - Barnacles

DARWIN
Well, I took his advice and set upon
a search to seek an un-described
suitable subject of study for me to scrutinize...

Then I remembered my boyhood back in school,
crudely dissecting treasures from tide pools...

Suddenly I recalled from the voyage,
I'd found a burrowing cirripedia;

it was a barnacle if you will...

Here at last I knew I had found something to study,
substantial and sound. I knew in time I would be...

DARWIN AND FRIEND
...an authority both sage and wise,
so highly placed I'd never agonize
over views that antagonize,
even for views that are suspect.

Verse 3 - It will be quick

DARWIN
I thought perhaps in several months,
or at most a year or two.
I could write a monograph
or short disertation on my views...

Well that was not to be.
But eight years later I'd become the man to see;
Now I'm the world's leading authority on cirripedia.

It's barnacles still if you will.

long thought to be hermaphroditic
surely God must be laughing at us
Look here – it is hard to believe
they breed in the funniest ways

“As your good friend
if you want a legacy for posterity
please, I implore you to publish your views
a simple paper on pigeons

I’m sure would certainly do…