The TCD Department of Drama BA programme presents The Machinewreckers, newly translated and directed by Nicholas Johnson. The performance will take place in the Samuel Beckett Theatre, April 1-3 at 7.30 pm.
Written while Toller was in prison in Germany in 1921, the play was inspired by the historical Luddite movement and its struggles with the British state. Opening with the 1812 passage of a law in which the crime of ‘frame-breaking’ is made punishable by death, the play unflinchingly exposes the desperate conditions of working weavers in early 19th Century Nottingham. The dawn of the machine age both threatens jobs and offers greater wealth, and this struggle manifests among the workers, who are torn between ‘natural’ work and work on the machine, a boundary increasingly unclear. Characteristically, Toller is more interested in underlying dynamics and shared human impulses than political theatre or propaganda. With clear-eyed and painful compassion, he weaves a dense fabric of competing interests and keenly observed human drives.
It is time to look again at Toller’s prophetic Expressionist vision. In 2014, where ‘Luddite’ means you’re not on Facebook, the struggle may look different, but the dynamics are the same. Workers in terrible factory conditions still exist, but are kept out of sight on other continents. The inexorable rise of automation continues to replace human workers, and our dependency on machines — even for all the needs once considered ‘human’— continues to grow. The demise of established trades has changed our relationship to work, but machines have also created new trades. That this complexity appears in a hundred-year-old drama is remarkable, and staging it has required an unusual method.
This performance of The Machinewreckers is mostly a student-led process. All cast and crew roles, apart from Director, AD, and Design Coordinator, are filled by students of the Drama Department in TCD. Although second-year Drama students alone will be performing, there will be students from all years contributing to the creative and design process. A conceptual choice has been made to source clothes and set pieces ethically, without funding manufacturers who refuse to consider the welfare of their employees in the built environment or through a living wage. The design strategy will highlight our relationship with consumable possessions at Trinity College itself, noting the limited life cycle of our most cherished machines and the impact this has on the environment.
Nicholas Johnson, Assistant Professor within the TCD Drama Department and a professional director/writer, is leading rehearsals with a clear ensemble vision. This performance occurs at the midpoint of the degree and showcases emerging talent. The production is especially notable for the size of the cast (37), and the environment this creates in the theatre. Awareness of the body drives the action, but this is supported through image, sound, dance, song, and speech, making a work of Total Theatre to immerse the audience in this powerful story of violence, justice, conflict, and community.
Listings Information
Tickets are €10 or €5 concession and can be purchased from the Samuel Beckett Theatre website at www.tcd.ie/beckett-theatre.
