The Machine Stops - after E. M. Forster

Humanity lives underground - in identical single-person cells, following a strictly regulated daily routine, monitored and controlled by an all-knowing Machine. Physical needs and social interaction are reduced to the bare minimum; all communication runs through audio-video transmission, every action recorded, logged, and commented upon. The system is perfect.

In the midst of this transparent civilisation lives Vashti, a music researcher - content, loyal to the system, convinced of the Machine's reliability. Then her son Kuno calls: he wants to travel to the Earth's surface, which is strictly forbidden. By the time Vashti finally meets him, he has long since carried out his plan - with devastating consequences. His discovery on the surface triggers a chain reaction, the Machine begins to fail, the system collapses. Humanity is destroyed. Only Kuno's find holds a faint glimmer of hope for a new beginning - without the Machine.

The play is based on E. M. Forster's short story from 1909. Adaptation: Hugh G. Lorey. Director: Anna-Sophie Sattler. Cast: Anja Becker, Marcel Zauner-Wieczorek, Eric Lenke, Judith Nitzschner, Jutta Hoffmann, Tim Rost, Julia Seßar and others. Music: Tommy Steinkopff (didgeridoo), Anna-Sophie Sattler (handpan). Set design: Karl Konrad Koenigs. Production design: noctenytor. Photography: Andreas Kemler.