Review | Online play To Be A Machine, starring Game of Thrones’ Jack Gleeson, puts creative spin on our hopeless pursuit of immortality

Hong Kong Arts Festival production by Dead Centre theatre troupe asks its audiences to imagine mankind has transcended the human body’s limitations

The one-man play adapted from Mark O’Connell’s book about transhumanism stars Jack Gleeson as the author interrogating futurists about eternal life

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Game of Thrones star Jack Gleeson in a live-streamed performance of To Be A Machine (Version 1.0), which is based on Mark O’Connell’s book about transhumanism. Photo: Ste Murray

Published: 6:15pm, 24 Mar 2022

To be or not to be, or to be a machine, that is the question.

To Be A Machine (Version 1.0) is a 2020 play based on journalist Mark O’Connell’s book on transhumanism, the belief that technology can help us transcend all bodily and mental limitations.

The subject is certainly topical, but there is a risk that it has become a bit tired and overdone. After all, convergence with technology is dealt with in many productions these days, including the now delayed opera Laila, which was to have opened the 2022 Hong Kong Arts Festival before live performance in the city was halted over coronavirus.

On top of that, after more than two years, on and off, of watching shows online, the novelty of it long ago wore off and people are craving a return to physical theatre.

Gleeson in To Be A Machine (Version 1.0). Photo: Ste Murray

Even so, in just 50 minutes and with a single in-person actor (Jack Gleeson, best known for playing the deliciously evil King Joffrey in Game of Thrones), this live-streamed performance thrills its Hong Kong Arts Festival audience with digital trickery, unexpected plot twists and a stimulating exploration of identity and drama.

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