More piercing than 1984 and Brave New World combined, The Machine Stops is the chilling tale of a futuristic information-oriented society where all of humanity survives in a subterranean world. The Machine Stops is a masterful new adaptation of the novella by E.M. Forster by Briony Dunn and starring Mary Helen Sassman and Patrick Livesey, opening this month at Theatre Works. For actor Sassman, a project she could not say no to.
“Briony Dunn introduced me to the novella by E.M. Forster – astonishingly first published in 1909 – and to her visionary adaptation for the stage. I was immediately drawn to the central themes of the work that Forster and Dunn frame within the distanced relationship between a parent and child. The ramifications for the two central figures are deeply moving and unlike anything I had come across. I just had to jump into this role!
My theatre making curiosity was also piqued by the prospect of world building in the sci-fi genre, with all its challenges, and I was very much attracted to the opportunity to work with the creative forces of Briony Dunn, Darrin Verhagen, Niklas Pajanti, Betty Auhl and Patrick Livesey – what a team!”
Sassman explains that the play introduces us to a speculative future where humankind is living a socially distanced existence underground. In this subterranean world all needs are provided for by ‘The Machine’, and people seem to spend their days sifting for knowledge, or ‘ideas’. Forster’s novel has been coined to have predicted the internet.
“As a parent of four I witness my children, and their friends, swipe swipe swiping away their hours as they sift through regurgitated viral videos for something new or for a feeling of knowing or for what I don’t know (sorry kids!). This play resonates now in an uncanny way. A contemporary audience may question their own interactions and complacencies with technology and will certainly ponder on the many broader societal implications that thriving with tech, while we annihilate our planet, posits for us all.
The posthuman body is here for us to learn from – let’s share some stage time unpacking the unreal before it’s only too real.”
In this dystopian epic, Sassman plays the ancient Vashti, who might be thousands of years old, sustained by artificial nutrients and bio hacks. Vashti thrives in the socially distanced age of the machine, but her child Kuno offers an alternative and dangerous perspective that cannot be ignored.
Sassman hopes audiences experience a shift in their own temporalities to open conversations around human connection, around solutions to shift the trajectories that can feel inevitable for humanity, to play with brighter alternatives.
“Isn’t this what theatre is built for? The immediacy of the shared time and space between performer and audience might just open possibilities for positive shifts outside of the theatre.”
E.M. Forster’s science fiction short story was written, in part, as a rebuttal to one of H.G. Wells’s novels wherein Forster challenges Wells’s political commentary favouring the view that sees technology itself as the ultimate controlling force.
Sassman says that fans of the novella will be helped along by an understanding of the constructed world, which will help, but is not imperative.
“Briony Dunn has built a piece that flourishes because of the novella, the characters and the story they tell feels timeless yet very much resonant now. They feel connected to Forster, and they also capture the possibilities within our imagined futures.”
Sassman admits that her biggest challenge in the rehearsal room has been to find Vashti’s physicality and inner rhythm, a task so particular given the world of the play.
“The rehearsal room is rich with experience, creativity and care – the best kind of room to work in really! Thankfully the intimate nature of the process has enabled some courageous creative choices which we’re so excited to share with our audiences.”
Sassman is an actor, dramaturg, singer and is a founding ensemble member of THE RABBLE. As a creative, she is interested in conversations with audiences that otherwise might not happen; in stories and worlds that propel new visions of living with one another.
From the team that brought you The Human Voice and Moth comes the radical 1909 dystopian epic that predicted the internet.
A rhapsody of sound and light brought to life by two virtuosic performers, this world premiere is a masterful new adaptation of the novella by E.M. Forster
Says Sassman, “There are bold choices being made, new theatrical moments being forged all in the consummate hands of a design team that thrives in this space.
I would say you’re in excellent hands with this work.
Also, Theatre Works is absolutely the place to be right now – grab a ticket and be on the right side of independent arts cultural history!”
August 22 – 30
