ArtsLab: Reverb - ′We Have Stolen Our Bodies From God′by Matthew Forbes at Shopfront Arts Co-op

On a tranquil afternoon, in rural New South Wales township, a deeply religious community watches as a UFO crash-lands into a nearby bushland. Some deem it a biblical apocalypse, some form entirely new belief systems around it, while others struggle to reconcile everything they thought to be true with the unearthly events they’ve witnessed.

We Have Stolen Our Bodies from God will probably turn into a musical at some point. For now, it’s a part-song cycle, part-live concept album that combines elements of folk music with ethereal synths and hazy samples. Through both the traditional songwriting forms of musical theatre and semi-improvised interludes, the piece explores crises of faith and identity, as well as the dangers of suppressing or rejecting them.

Written and Performed by Matthew Forbes

Mentored by Jack Prest