2024 Genesis Future Directors Award recipient Annie Kershaw directs Girl in the Machine at the Young Vic 

16 April 2024

A person with short buzzed blonde hair tilting their head upwards to kiss a purple, blue and yellow silhouette of another person. The silhouette holds the blonde person's with one hand. In the centre of the image is black text saying 'Girl in the Machine'.

The 2024 Genesis Future Directors Award recipient Annie Kershaw will direct Girl in the Machine by award-winning playwright Stef Smith at the Young Vic this Autumn.  

“The gap is getting smaller between the human and the hardware.”   

A story of love in a fast-changing world, Girl in the Machine follows partners Polly and Rowen. When Rowen brings home ‘the Black Box’ which promises to cure depression, Polly becomes more and more distant from Rowen and struggles to resist the draw of eternal bliss that the Black Box offers. 

Annie will direct the play in the Young Vic’s Clare theatre as part of her Genesis Future Directors Award. Annie is currently the Carne Deputy Director at Jermyn Street Theatre. She was Associate Director on Best of Enemies in the West End and previously the Jerwood Assistant Director at the Young Vic. 

The Genesis Future Directors Award programme, run by the Young Vic in partnership with the Genesis Foundation, provides early-career directors with the opportunity to explore and develop their craft by creating their first fully resourced production at the Young Vic, with mentoring and support from the theatre’s core artistic team.   

Girl in the Machine will run from Wednesday 16 – Saturday 26 October. 

Book tickets for Girl in the Machine

Read more about the Genesis Future Directors Award  

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