GIRL IN THE MACHINE to Open at Cork Arts Theatre
Isolde Fenton and Stefan Brennan-Healy star in Éadaoin Fox's production of the contemporary play.
Cork Arts Theatre will present Stef Smith's Girl in the Machine from November 12-21 as the third and final production in its 2026 Re:Directing programme.
Directed by Eadaoin Fox, the production will star Isolde Fenton as Polly and Stefan Brennan-Healy as Owen.
The play follows Polly and Owen, a couple in their thirties whose lives are disrupted when Owen gives Polly, an overworked corporate lawyer, a newly released headset called "Black Box." Intended to help her relax, the technology draws Polly into an increasingly seductive virtual world as her dependence on the device grows.
Outside, protests develop against the technology and its increasing influence on human life. As the boundaries between humans and machines begin to shift, Polly and Owen are forced to confront their differing understandings of reality and freedom.
“This prescient text acts as a conduit of resistance when confronted with the promise of a convenient and 'blissful' reality offered by AI,” Fox said. “I look forward to exploring the psychology of the play's characters in detail, as their relationship to an artificial intelligence feels especially familiar today.”
Girl in the Machine concludes CAT's Re:Directing programme, a series of three contemporary plays produced in-house and directed by Cork theater directors with funding from The Arts Council.
“We are excited to be staging the third and final of the 2026 Re:Directing programme, Girl in the Machine directed by Eadaoin Fox, at Cork Arts Theatre in November,” said CAT CEO Fin Flynn. “The aim was to create high-calibre productions in Cork working with many of the talented theatre artists in the city, while at the same time giving audiences a chance to see less familiar works.”
The creative team includes Aedin Cosgrove as set and lighting designer, Daniel Montague O'Brien as sound designer and Valentina Gambardella as costume designer.
Girl in the Machine runs November 12-21 at Cork Arts Theatre, with performances nightly at 8 p.m. and Saturday matinees on November 14 and 21. There will be no Sunday performance.
Additional information is available at corkartstheatre.com.
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