York-based Pilot Theatre has collaborated with York Theatre Royal on a new adaptation of a dystopian science fiction story, The Machine Stops by E M Forster.

The adaptation is by Bolton-based playwright Neil Duffield, who speaks to us about adapting science fiction for the stage, the remarkable resonances that this 1909 story has with our world of social media and the world-wide web and making a living as a playwright for more than thirty years.

The Machine Stops by Neil Duffield with music by John Foxx and Benge, directed by Juliet Forster, will be performed at York Theatre Royal from 13 May to 4 June 2016 followed by a short tour to The Point in Eastleigh on 8 and 9 June and New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth on 10 and 11 June before appearing at Platform Shift + festival in Budapest from 15 to 19 June.

(Image of Neil Duffield by Anthony Robling)