The Young Vic Theatre today announces casting for Girl in the Machine by Stef Smith (The Outrun, Nora: A Doll’s House) directed by Annie Kershaw (THIS IS NOT A PROTEST, Ulysses), the 2024 recipient of the Genesis Future Directors Award. Girl in the Machine will run from Wednesday 16 – Saturday 26 October 2024 in the Young Vic’s Clare Theatre as part of the Creators Program and Genesis Future Directors Award program. Tickets are now on sale www.youngvic.org.  

Sophie Melville (The Way, Iphigenia in Splott) will play Polly with BAFTA nominated actor Leah Harvey (Foundation, Small Island) as Rowan in this electrifying new production which explores human and technological interaction. 

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

Polly loves Rowen but lately that hasn’t felt like enough. Then Rowen brings home the Black Box, with its promises to cure depression, and a flick of a switch changes everything. As Polly becomes more distant from the person she planned to share her life with, will her love for Rowen be enough to resist the draw of eternal bliss that the Black Box offers?  

Leah Harvey (Rowan) has recently filmed a role in Craig Roberts’ next feature, The Scurry, and a lead role in Sweetpea, See-Saw and Sky’s new drama. Leah has also shot the feature film The Assessment with Alicia Vikander. 

They can now be seen opposite Ewan McGregor in the series A Gentleman in Moscow for Paramount+/Showtime and starring with Julia Louis-Dreyfus in A24’s film Tuesday, which screened at the Telluride and London Film Festivals. 

Leah was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2022 BAFTAs for Apple TV+’s Foundation. 

Previous screen credits include On the Road (London Entertainment), Foundation (Apple TV+) and Fighting with my Family (Lion’s Gate). 

On stage, they went straight from LAMDA into lead roles in Phyllida Lloyd’s Shakespeares for the Donmar and St Ann’s Warehouse in New York. Their theatre credits include Small Island (National Theatre), Emilia (The Globe) The Wonderful World of Dissocia (Stratford East) and As You Like It (Soho Place).  

Annie Kershaw (Director) is currently the Carne Deputy Director at Jermyn Street Theatre. She was Associate Director on Best of Enemies in the West End after being the Jerwood Assistant Director of the Young Vic and Headlong co-production, as part of the Young Vic’s Jerwood Assistant Director Programme, supported by Jerwood Arts. Her credits as Director include Hedda Gabler, Safe (Reading Rep); Light (Five Shorts at the Young Vic); It’s A Flawed World After All (Flawstate); THIS IS NOT A PROTEST (Reading Thames Festival); Ulysses (Jermyn Street Theatre).  

Sophie Melville (Polly) trained at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Her stage credits include Cowbois (RSC & Royal Court); Sorter (Swansea Grand); Iphigenia in Splott (Lyric Hammersmith, National Theatre, 59E59 New York, Sherman Theatre); The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare’s Globe); Mum, Herding Cats (Soho Theatre); That Is Not Who I Am, Living Newspaper (Royal Court Theatre); Wolfie(Theatre503); Blue (Chapter Theatre); Close Quarters (Sheffield Theatres); The Divide, Pagans (The Old Vic); Pops (Hightide/Young Vic); No One Will Tell Me How To Start A Revolution (Hampstead Theatre); Low Level Panic (Orange Tree Theatre); 2066 (Almeida Theatre); Blackbird (The Other Room Theatre); Insignificance, Under Milk Wood (Theatr Clwyd); The Shape of Things, ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore and See How They Run (Theatre by the Lake).  

 Television credits include: The Way (BBC); Casualty (BBC); The Chelsea Detective (Acorn TV); The Pact (BBC/Little Door); Film Club (Tilt Content and Plaything); Bang 2 (BBC/S4C); Call the Midwife (Neal Street Productions); The Left Behind, The Missing (BBC).  

Completing the creative team is designer Khadija Raza, sound designer Odinn Orn Hilmarsson, lighting designer Lucía Sánchez Roldán, movement director Nevena Stojkov, associate sound designer Neil McKeown with casting by Jacob Sparrow. 

Made possible by the Genesis Foundation, the Genesis Future Directors Award program 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. Since its inception in 2012, the Genesis Future Directors Award has supported 17 emerging directors and theatre-makers including Andrea Ling, Deirdre McLaughlin, Diyan Zora, Dadiow Lin, Caitriona Shoobridge, Lekan Lawal, Debbie Hannan, John R. Wilkinson, Nancy Medina, Luke Skilbeck, Bryony Shanahan, Ola Ince, Rikki Henry, Tinuke Craig, Finn Beames, Matthew Xia and Ben Kidd. 

The Genesis Future Directors Award is part of the Young Vic’s Creators Program for multi-and anti-disciplinary artists. The only scheme of its kind, it offers artists and producers a unique opportunity to develop their craft through opportunities that range from trainee and assistant director roles to a two-year residency through the Genesis Fellow/Associate Director position. 

Annie Kershaw said: “I am more than excited to be directing Stef Smith’s brilliant play with such a great creative team and cast. This production questions how far our reliance on technology will go. What will be the breaking point? With a host of legendary performances between them, Sophie Melville and Leah Harvey are the perfect pairing to help us deep dive into the personal impact of our changing relationship with technology. Considering current advances in AI, this piece is scarily resonant. I’m looking forward to seeing how audiences react.” 

John Studzinski, Founder and Chairman of the Genesis Foundation, said:
“The Genesis Future Directors Award – and our other programmes at the Young Vic these past 20 years – have given young directors a much sought-after opportunity to direct their first play in a fully-resourced production at the Young Vic. These productions are shielded from critical review, enabling them to experiment with form and be as creative as they can be.

Annie Kershaw joins a cohort of Genesis directors who have gone on to forge rich achievements in their careers. We look forward to seeing her work and wish her every success.”