Pilot Theatre and York Theatre to Tour Acclaimed Production of E.M.Forster's THE MACHINE STOPS

Following its world premiere run at York Theatre Royal in May, Pilot Theatre and York Theatre Royal are delighted to announce that their critically acclaimed co-production of Neil Duffield's exciting stage adaptation of E.M. Forster's The Machine Stops is set to tour the UK next year.

The production will start its national tour at York Theatre Royal from the 10 -18 Feb 2017 and then continue through to 8 April 2017 where it will finish at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre.

Directed by York Theatre Royal's Associate director Juliet Forster, Neil Duffield's adaptation of Forster's chilling short story explores our increasingly intricate and complex relationship with technology.

In a dystopian world where humans have retreated far underground, Kuno alone questions their now total dependency on technology to live and communicate with each other, but in his struggle to break out can he reach the Earth's surface before the Machine stops?

Esther Richardson, Pilot Theatre' s Artistic Director & Joint Chief Executive said about the forthcoming tour:

"Pilot are delighted to have the opportunity to take this fantastic show back out on the road. After such a successful run, earlier this year, we are excited to take The Machine Stops on a longer tour and give as many people as possible the chance to see it."

British novelist, essayist, and social and literary critic E.M. Forster is best known for his exquisite novels of A Passage to India and Howard's End which were both made into Oscar winning films, but his short story masterpiece published in 1909 is astoundingly prophetic and poignant in 2016, provided a chilling warning of the dangers of isolation, reliance on computer technology and the effects upon society. Its prescient notions that exist today included instant messages, televisual messages and the internet.

The production is designed by Rhys Jarman (The Time of your Life - Live from Television Centre, BBC) with lighting by Tom Smith (See How They Run, York Theatre Royal) and movement by Philippa Vafadari (Brideshead Revisited, The Legend of King Arthur, York Theatre Royal). Casting for the production will be announced in the coming months.

The acclaimed production features a specially composed soundtrack by John Foxx and Benge. John Foxx is best known as the original lead singer of the group Ultravox and as an electronic music pioneer.

The original soundtrack to the production forms much of the music on the new John Foxx And The Maths album, The Machine, which is due out on 10 February via Metamatic Records. John Foxx and Benge (his partner in The Maths) originally came up with a rich, atmospheric set of ideas for the 2016 production, created entirely on old analogue synthesisers and drum machines.

Described as 'eerie', 'evocative' and 'a triumphant score of chest-crushing anxiety' by the likes of The Independent and The Guardian in their reviews of the play, Foxx and Benge's set of dystopian science-fiction themes will be released on CD (and digital download) with superb artwork by Jonathan Barnbrook, whose other credits include designs for David Bowie's The Next Day and Blackstar albums.

The Machine Stops will open its UK tour at York Theatre Royal from 10 - 18 Feb and then tour to Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham; The Broadway Theatre, Letchworth; Jackson's Lane, London; Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds; Mercury Theatre, Colchester; Cast, Doncaster; Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield, Northern Stage, Newcastle; and the Belgrade Theatre Coventry. The production will also visit Teatro Giovanni Testori in Forli, Italy in late February.

For more information on the tour visit www.pilot-theatre.com

For more information about John Foxx and Benge and the forthcoming album The Machine please visit www.metamatic.com

Image by Ben Bentley from initial run in May 2016 at York Theatre Royal

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