Girl In The Machine
22 October 2024
Young Vic
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Girl in the Machine ran at the Young Vic recently, in a new production directed by Annie Kershaw. The tight 1 hr and 15 minute show tackles themes of future technology and its impact on human interactions.
Staged in the Clare, the smaller of the two venues inside the Young Vic, the stage is set in the middle of two sets of seats, a simple white room with minimalistic white furniture and a set of overhead light tiles that set the mood. Underlined with atmospheric heart beat synth, this show is all about setting a tense atmosphere with sound and light, incorporating contemporary dance into the action.
Polly, a high powered lawyer, suffers from tension and stress. When her partner Rowen, a nurse, brings a new piece of technology used in anxiety and depression therapy home, Polly slips into the virtual world created by Black Box, slowly losing herself in the soothing effect of it. Black Box, a mysterious piece of tech that showed up out of nowhere, without any hints to who created it, syncs with the brain and body of the user to terrifying extent, reading brain waves and memories with ease and promising release and relaxation never before experienced. But when the first reports of people uploading their consciousness into the technology, leaving their mortal bodies behind to the promise of utter bliss, things spiral out of control.
It is an incredibly tense show, reminiscent of Black Mirror episodes in its dark future visions, but lacks the depth needed for a full effect. The rhythmic staging is compelling, though the unfolding of the plot seems to rush past the audience without building deep connection first and foremost. As a result, Girl in the Machine feels rushed and incomplete, an idea that has not fully been realised. There is a lot of potential in this story as a creepy and dark vision of the future, of how our lives are more and more dependent on technology and where this will lead us in the not too distant future, it just needs a little more complexity and exploration.
