What’s wrong with reality? Why do we feel the need to escape it?
To Be a Machine (Version 2.0)
Dead Centre
21 - 25 July
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?
Dead Centre’s 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.
To Be A Machine (Version 2.0) is a VR and real-world experience starring Jack Gleeson which places you at the centre of someone else’s story.
To attend this show, audiences must upload a photo of themselves in advance. Instructions will be provided at the point of ticket purchase.
Please note: Ticket holders must submit a photo of their face, to be able to take part in the experience. After purchasing a ticket, you will be provided with a link to a webpage to upload your photo. It is important that you upload your photo immediately after booking your ticket, to confirm your place in the experience.
Press quotes
“Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd’s playfully original work tests expectations of reailty and theatrical illusion.”
★★★★ Irish Times
“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
“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
Production credits
Performed by Jack Gleeson
Additional Cast – Andrew Bennett, Stephen Bradley, Caoimhe Coburn Gray, Faith Jones, Gerard Kelly, Erin McGathy, Faye O’Reilly, Mazana Ronaldson Directors – Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd
Technical Direction – Antoine Vanel, Blindsp0t
Set Design – Andrew Clancy
Lighting Design – Stephen Dodd
Sound Design and Music – Kevin Gleeson
Costume Design – Mae Leahy
Props & Set Dressing – Eugenia Genunchi
360 Filming and Editing – David Slowo, Wombat Media 360 Camera Crew – Linda Curtin 360
Camera Operation – Salma Ataya
Production Manager – Gavin Kennedy
Assistant Production Manager – Jack Leitch
Stage Manager – Olivia Drennan
Assistant Stage Manager – Anika Kidd
VR Technicians – Alexandra Rosenberger, John Wildgoose
Producer – Tilly Taylor
About Dead Centre
Dead Centre is one of Ireland’s foremost contemporary theatre companies, based in Dublin and led by Artistic Directors Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd, and Producer Tilly Taylor.
Their previous productions include LIPPY (2013), Chekhov’s First Play (2015), Hamnet (2017), Beckett’s Room (2018), Good Sex (2022), Illness as Metaphor (2024) and Deaf Republic (2025).
Dead Centre’s work has toured extensively around the world, including to Schaubühne (Berlin), Dramaten (Stockholm), BAM (New York), Young Vic and Battersea Arts Centre (London), Théâtre de Liège, Hong Kong Festival, Helsinki Festival, Teatro Piccolo (Milan), Noorderzon Festival of Performing Arts (Groningen), Kampnagel Summer Festival (Hamburg), Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, and Seoul Performing Arts Festival.
They have also created new work at Schaubühne; Burgtheater, Vienna; Göteborgs Stadsteater; Ruhrtriennale; Deutsche Oper, Berlin; Schauspiel Stuttgart; and Hong Kong Arts Festival.
Dead Centre was founded in 2012 by Ben Kidd, Bush Moukarzel and Adam Welsh.
Dates
21 - 25 July
Times
21 July: 18:30 (Preview) & 20:30 (Opening)
22 July: 16:00 & 18:30 & 20:30
23 July: 16:00 & 18:30 & 20:30
24 July: 16:00 & 18:30 & 20:30
25 July: 13:30 & 15:30 & 18:30 & 20:30
Tickets
Preview: €20
Performances: €22/24
Space
Space Upstairs
Duration
1 hour, no interval
Important note
Ticket holders must submit a photo of their face, to be able to take part in the experience. After purchasing a ticket, you will be provided with a link to a webpage to upload your photo. It is important that you upload your photo immediately after booking your ticket, to confirm your place in the experience.
Warning
Contains loud noises and representations of suicide.
Genres
Theatre
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