Scene from iMusical

[Lightning Rod]

This is a scene from The Imaginary Musical. It's loosely based on Goethe's novella Elective Affinities, which was based on a theory of chemical reactions.

Scene: Ed and The Architect are doing work in the construction site (their house, which is the retort for the chemical reaction) Archie is trying to explain his theory of chemistry as a metaphor for what is happening in the household. But they both have their theories.

The Architect:

I'm talking about Chemistry, my boy
basic interactive co-valent Chemistry

the reaction requires an environment
a retort, a flask, a chamber, an atmosphere
where pressure is controlled and temperature
a stage, a bed, a setting, it all happens here

Chemical attraction, the basic interaction
where positives meet negatives
the minuet of elements
the chemistry of elegance
it all happens here

free radicals and catalysts
oxidants and accidents
everything happens here
it's all about chemistry

Ed:

I say it's Physics
this is why:
Man has so cleverly read laws into the universe, they state:

If you drop Einstein and Isaac Newton
from a leaning monument
Both would land, we theorize
in scientific unison
Because the velocity of falling bodies
is sixteen feet-per-second squared
But all logic is suspended
when bodies are falling in love.
Now we have electron microscopes
and all the molecules are tiny movie stars.
They advance the plot with their synergy,
the microcosm plays the part of destiny.

Two bodies cannot occupy the same place at one time,
unless the shortest distance between two hearts is touching
When bodies are at rest, they generate no friction
When bodies are in motion, they tend to have more fun.

Both:

It's all about Chemistry
No, it's simply Basic Physics
I say it's Chemical interaction, the compounds the composites
I say it's Action and Reaction, equals and opposites
I say it's Chemistry
I say it's Physics
Maybe we should settle for Art