The Dark Matter of Usulal
The Jo Ze spArks
World Premiere
Presented by Arts House and the Jo Ze spArks
Thursday 12 – Sunday 15 November 2026
Thu – Sat, 7:30pm
Sun, 5pm
70 mins, no interval
Post-show artist talk for all ticket holders
Fri 13 November
Tickets
Standard $40
Reduced $25
BLAKTIX $15
Companion Card Free
A small transaction fee will be charged per order.
Content Advice
Suitable for ages 15+
The work contains adult themes, triggering content, smoke effects and haze, high pitched frequencies, very loud effects and sudden loud noises, flashing and strobe lighting, abrupt lighting changes and low lighting.
An Access Guide will be available for download prior to the event.
Arts House
North Melbourne Town Hall
521 Queensberry St,
North Melbourne
Wheelchair Accessible
Quiet Space Available
Assistance Animal
Companion Card
Assistive Listening
Visual Rating 50%
Aural Rating 50%Emerging from an entrusted relationship with the Ait Koedal story of Usulal and grounded in Saibaian knowledge traditions, The Dark Matter of Usulal is a powerful contemporary performance of body, bloodline and a world already in motion.
Womxn lives between the measurable world and the forces that continue beyond it.
Her child speaks of moon lilies, black holes and satellites. A black cockatoo appears at a kitchen window. The ground begins to hum.
Then womxn falls through the centre of the earth.
As the cracks begin to widen, what was always there begins to emerge.
The work invites audiences into a world that was always here.
Through a rich interplay of performance, sound, movement and captivating visuals, The Dark Matter of Usulal asks what holds when the ground shifts, and what continues long after the ending has already been declared.
About the artists
Artist statement
It has become part of how I live, create and move through the world.
The Dark Matter of Usulal does not retell that myth. It lives within that relationship.
What followed was a long practice of listening - to the body, to where stories are stored, to motherhood, grief, the lived realities of the Saibaian diaspora, and the living cosmologies of Saibai Island.
Over time I realised the story was not waiting to be found.
It was already moving.
Grounded in Caring for Story, my practice understands story as a living entity.
Story is not content. It is one of the ways knowledge is carried, renewed and brought into relationship across generations. The question is not what a story means. The question is what it asks of us.
My practice is shaped by continuing relationships across Saibai and Bamaga - my bloodline, my Ama, Elders, ancestors, more-than-human kin, grief, motherhood, and my longstanding relationship with the Ait Koedal myth of Usulal.
Within this living field, The Dark Matter of Usulal brings together performance, sound, movement and digital visual ecologies to create an encounter with a world already in motion.
The work attends to continuance: the movement of story through body, place and relation.
The audience arrives late.
The field is already running.
- Margaret J Harvey
Artistic credits
Featuring the voice of: Zey Harvey-Connellan
Associate Director & Dramaturg: Danielle Micich
Digital Visual Design: Desmond Connellan
Lighting & Spatial Design: Jenny Hector
Sound/Composition Design: Marco Cher-Gibard
Cultural Acknowledgement:
Margaret J Harvey acknowledges Awa Walter Waia, senior Ait Koedal knowledge holder, who gifted her the living myth of Usulal.
Details
World Premiere
Presented by Arts House and the Jo Ze spArks
Thursday 12 – Sunday 15 November 2026
Thu – Sat, 7:30pm
Sun, 5pm
70 mins, no interval
Post-show artist talk for all ticket holders
Fri 13 November
Tickets
Standard $40
Reduced $25
BLAKTIX $15
Companion Card Free
A small transaction fee will be charged per order.
Content Advice
Suitable for ages 15+
The work contains adult themes, triggering content, smoke effects and haze, high pitched frequencies, very loud effects and sudden loud noises, flashing and strobe lighting, abrupt lighting changes and low lighting.
An Access Guide will be available for download prior to the event.
Arts House
North Melbourne Town Hall
521 Queensberry St,
North Melbourne
Wheelchair Accessible Quiet Space Available Assistance Animal Companion Card Assistive Listening Visual Rating 50% Aural Rating 50%Supported by –
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body; the Victoria Government through Creative Victoria; Arts Queensland; Malthouse Theatre; and the City of Melbourne through Arts House.
Image credit: Danielle Micich
Image description: A performer lies on a dark stage floor looking toward the audience. Glowing blue digital figures appear suspended behind her within a dark visual landscape.
