The all-female rescue mission to Mars: my opera about a toxic tech bro takeover of the red planet

Four women travel 140m miles across the heavens – only to find their new world in hostile corporate hands. Composer Jennifer Walshe reveals what fed into her epic opera, from low-gravity procreation to Shrek in spaceWhy write an opera about Mars? Because Mars isn’t just a planet. It’s a philosophy, an ideology. The way humans think about it changes over time, reflecting the unstable mix of assumptions, hopes, dreams and anxieties that define each historical moment.In 1965, Nasa’s Mariner 4 probe flew past Mars and beamed the first closeup images of the red planet (or of any other planet) back to Earth. Prior to that flight, humans knew the planet only through telescopes, and it was thought that its surface would feature vegetation and that life may have evolved there. Mariner 4 revealed the truth: it was a rocky, cratered place seemingly devoid of life. President Lyndon B Johnson declared that “it may just be that life as we know it, with its humanity, is more unique than many have thought, and we must remember this”. The New York Times went further: “Mars, it now appears, is a desolate world.” Continue reading...

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Director reveals why Pedro Pascal dropped out of major role in film with 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating

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