IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL MACHINE (2024)
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Writer/Director: Olive Greenspan
Starring: Paul Outlaw, with Jasmine Albuquerque, Perry D’Marco, Malachi Middleton, Augustine Perez, Tess Hewlett, Yun Min, Matthew Peter Murphy, and David Nafissian.
Director of Photography: Lissy Aschieris
Set Design: Shing Yin Khor
Projection Design: Carl(os) Roa
Original Score: Jonathan Snipes
Sound Design: Barry Weir, Jr.
Colorist: Tom Klane
Choreography: Maija Knapp
Status: Complete, awaiting festival premiere
A nameless City builds a mysterious, beautiful Machine to improve life for its citizens. At first, the people revered the Machine. But over time, memory of the dark era before the Machine faded. The Machine's efficiency was pushed, and its beauty faded. And then—for reasons even they may not understand—the people began to destroy the Machine.
Told primarily through movement, theatrical set design, and archetypal characters, BEAUTIFUL MACHINE is a modern fable about why we destroy what sustains us.