Machina explores the repercussions of a man uploading his consciousness to a social network. Photo: Supplied <\/p>\n
A man with a desire to expand his mind has his consciousness uploaded to the cloud. His physical body dies, and the loved ones he leaves behind must wrangle with the ethical dilemmas sparked by this brave new world. <\/p>\n
It sounds like the plot of Transcendence, the recent film that received mixed reviews and saw Johnny Depp portray a brilliant scientist who achieves god-like powers after transforming from flesh and blood to binary code. <\/p>\n
But it is also the same springboard for Brisbane playwright Richard Jordans Machina, premiering on Friday night as part of the La Boite Indie program. <\/p>\n
Brisbane playwright Richard Jordan explores the internet as a new spirituality in Machina. Photo: Supplied <\/p>\n
The 31-year-old, who also penned the award-winning 25 Down, spent two years writing his work, and was relieved to discover Hollywood went down a different path. <\/p>\n
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I thought there were some interesting ideas in Transcendence, but I thought they were quite clumsily executed, he said. <\/p>\n
Everyone was so po-faced and terribly serious, and sometimes I feel like movies can hide behind the special effects... I cringed through most of it. <\/p>\n
Machina takes place a month after its central character, David Sergeant, uploads his consciousness to the eponymous social network in a process called going inside. <\/p>\n
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Theatre transcends man and machine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Machina explores the repercussions of a man uploading his consciousness to a social network. Photo: Supplied A man with a desire to expand his mind has his consciousness uploaded to the cloud. Continue reading