‘Atopia’ (working title) by Marcus Whale – Creative Development Stage

Image credit: Jordan K. Munns

Creative Development Stage 1: 1 – 11 December 2025

‘Atopia’ (working title) is a new experimental opera by Marcus Whale commencing development at Campbelltown Arts Centre in December 2025.

This project explores the enigmatic space between life and death as an arena for the experience of the void and the breakdown of bodily and psychic boundaries. Drawing from cultural sources ranging from contemporary horror film, drone music, rave culture, doom metal, Buddhist cosmologies of the underworld and Christian liturgy, the work takes place across dance, music, and spoken and sung text, reaching towards the non-place of the un-dead.

The form for this work will be found through collaboration with Angus McGrath as a librettist/writer collaborator to help conceptualise the basic building blocks of the work, and rapper BAYANG (tha Bushranger) whose Gothic and apocalyptic world-building in releases such as 2024’s collaborative album Redbrickgothik with doom metal band

Image credit: Sage Riley

About the artist

Marcus Whale (b. 1990, Sydney) makes music, performance and writing about the ecstasy and horror of desire, the void and the divine. His shows, often taking place in the round or amongst audiences, range from sets of live music to song-length club moments, from gallery performances to full-length stage shows in the theatre. He is a current member of the band Perfect Actress, a former member of Collarbones and BV and is a 7-time nominee for the Australian Music Prize. With Gus McGrath, he presents the show Sleepless in Sydney on FBi Radio. 

When

Location

Campbelltown Arts Centre, 1 Art Gallery Road, 2560, View Map