Space Opera

Space OperaFeature Movie Script by Demian

Logline:

"Space Opera" (musical drama) aka "Streaking Across the Universe"

Four men in one ship, and four women in the other, raised in a nurturing, polyamorous, naturist, commune, travel to find a planet that supports organic farming. The Monstroso Corp. destroyed their Homeworld, and infiltrated one ship with a traitorous agent. Can the sweet, singing and dancing men and women of these ships withstand a potentially fatal assault, when there are no expendable crew members?

Genesis of "Space Opera"

During the 70s, in the Amherst, Massachusetts area, I set up, and ran, a household for seven years. It was focused on being vegan, or vegetarian. We shared meals, nutritional information, massages, and sometimes parts of our lives. Men and women, gay and straight. Every week, friends would show up for supper. Because we became well-known, strangers would show up at least monthly.

Occasionally, there was casual nudity, however, during the summers, we were always naked at the secret pond on Blueberry Hill. Most household residents were students. During these seven years, there were 24 tenants. Most stayed for a couple of semesters, six stayed much longer and became the core group.

One of my housemates, Rob Johnston, borrowed a quarter acre of marshland, restored the soil, and grew organic food. Several housemates joined the nearby Kundalini ashram. Our household was keen on the "Whole Earth Catalog," "Mother Earth News," and the research of Adele Davis and Frances Moore Lappe.

We were concerned with the dangerous effect of the toxins produced by greedy corporations, in particular, Monsanto. Many of us protested building radioactive power plants (especially on aquifers). Several housemates got involved with a peer-led counseling method for emotional health, which I also utilized. At one point, all of our household got passports for resettlement, in case Nixon got hired for another term.

During this period, I worked on my doctorate in education, as well as performed in musicals, and directed puppet, cartoon, and avant-garde movie shows. I created a vegan restaurant on the U. Mass. Campus, and discussed Macrobiotic principals, while serving rice, beans and squash. Later, I partnered with three others to create a vegetarian café, in Amherst town center.

While photography continued to be my main endeavor, I produced and hosted public affairs radio programs, and led 130 theater workshops for actors and non-professionals.

Even though "Space Opera" was first created in 2012, it wasn't until editing the latest version, in 2021, that I realized it was, essentially, a brief version of the experiences and memories that were part of those seven years of my life. The only difference was that my life, some 46 years ago, didn't take place in outer space.

Demian - 2021-03-11