MARS | In rehearsals

Four astronauts and an AI software interface are cooped up in the cabin of a space-craft for nine months on a mission to Mars. As they journey across the vast abyss of space, tensions rise, relationships are tested, seasons of Real Housewives are watched and re-watched. Arriving on the red planet, they confront isolation, sinister ideologies, the prospect of alien life, and a vibe-shift toward corporate authoritarianism. MARS is an opera about space colonisation, reactionary futurism, pronatalism, the madness of hustle culture, and the unsettling futures encroaching on our present. We sat down with composer Jennifer Walshe, co-director Tom Creed, and the cast to find out more about the opera and see how rehearsals are shaping up.