'Do you want to live forever?
YES or NO.'
Polly and Owen have nailed it. Successful in their careers and wildly in love with each other, they feel ready to take on the world.
But when a mysterious new technology, promising a break from the daily grind, creeps into everyone's phones, their world is turned upside down. As the line between physical and digital rapidly dissipates, Polly and Owen are forced to question whether their definitions of reality and freedom are the same.
Girl in the Machine is a disturbing but compassionate vision of our potential digital future, and what it might mean for 'life' as we know it. The play premiered at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 2017, directed by Traverse Artistic Director Orla O'Loughlin.
About the Author :
Stef Smith is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter.
Her work for the stage includes: The Outrun, adapted from Amy Liptrot's memoir (Edinburgh International Festival, 2024); Enough (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 2019); Nora : A Doll's House (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, 2019; revived at Young Vic, London, 2020); Girl in the Machine (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 2017); Human Animals (Royal Court Theatre, London, 2016); Swallow (Traverse Theatre, 2015); Remote (NT Connections 2015); And The Beat Goes On (Random Accomplice/Horsecross); Cured (The Arches, Glasgow); Woman of the Year (Òran Mór); Grey Matter (Lemon Tree, Aberdeen); Falling/Flying (Tron, Glasgow); Roadkill (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2010 & 2011).
Awards include: Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland for Best New Production, Amnesty International Expression of Freedom Award, Herald Angel Award, Total Theatre Award for Innovation, The Scotsman Fringe First Award (Roadkill); Scottish Arts Club Theatre Award for Drama, The Scotsman Fringe First Award (Swallow).
She has been awarded the New Playwright Award by Playwrights Studio, Scotland. Stef was a member of the Royal Court National Writers Group in 2013. She is an Associate Artist at Playwrights' Studio, Scotland.
Review :
'A sinister story of love and addiction that revisits age old themes whilst thrusting them into a dystopian digital future... thanks to Smith’s cut to the chase dialogue, the horrors of what that could ultimately entail is are viscerally realised'
'Haunting and prescient... Smith invests this world with a rare intensity... there is a solid emotional base to the piece; it has a real authenticity, while the encroaching technological nightmare rings horribly true'
'A gripping two-hander, a piece of dystopian sci-fi in the manner of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror... takes our present-day unease about the intrusiveness of technology and pushes it a step into the future... a high-stakes, will-she-won’t-she battle that keeps us on edge throughout'
'Resembles an episode of dystopian TV series Black Mirror, but with a poetic heart worthy of Ray Bradbury at his warmest... a show that hums and throbs through its plea for the flesh and blood messiness of life over the delusions provided by virtual pleasures during increasingly sour times'
'An exploration of the role of technology in modern life and its potentially dehumanising effects… interesting and current'
