The Running Machine

Synopsis

A sterile office building, its fluorescent lights flickering. In the basement, a treadmill whirs endlessly, powering something unseen.

The Running Machine follows the employees of an unnamed corporation as they navigate the absurdities of modern work life while striving towards a revolutionary goal. At the company’s heart is Mr. Warren, a ruthless CEO obsessed with creating a machine that promises to bridge the gap between human minds. As pressure mounts to complete the project, we witness the struggles and interactions of various employees across different levels of the corporate hierarchy.

Joe Harbot’s darkly comic play skewers contemporary work culture with biting satire, exposing the dehumanizing aspects of corporate life. The dialogue crackles with absurdist humour as characters speak past each other in a haze of buzzwords and forced positivity. The Running Machine grapples with profound questions about human connection, the nature of consciousness, and the lengths we’ll go to escape our fundamental loneliness, all while delivering a scathing critique of capitalism and technology’s promise to solve our deepest problems.