What’s wrong with reality? Why do we feel the need to escape it?

From its very beginning theatre has offered audiences a chance to escape the world and enter a new one. The phrase “virtual reality” was first used by a playwright, Antonin Artaud, to describe the nature of theatre: a technology which allows us, for one night only, to get out of our heads.

But what happens when theatre stops working? Where do we go next?

To Be A Machine (Version 1.0) meditated on the use of technology to improve the human condition. Version 2.0 goes further, exploring how virtual reality will soon feel more immersive than reality itself. And that might mean we never have to go to the theatre again.

A VR and real-world experience which places you at the centre of someone else’s story.

To Be a Machine (Version 2.0) premiered on 28 September 2023 at Smock Alley Theatre as part of Dublin Theatre Festival.

For all touring information, please contact info@deadcentre.org

“Since 2012, Dead Centre has established itself as one of Ireland’s most exciting theatre companies… its tricksy, teasing work pushes the boundaries of theatre. This production layers world upon world, Inception-style, deconstructing our sense of reality and our sense of self. ”
★★★★
The Stage

“Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd’s playfully original work tests expectations of reailty and theatrical illusion.”
★★★★
Irish Times

“An unsettling experience, as we navigate the theatre, then the streets of Temple Bar, our own face appearing before us... we are nudged to consider the artifice… [and] reminded that human contact is what makes theatre.”
★★★★
Irish Examiner

IMAGES by Ste Murray