When you think of a battle of man versus machine you ordinarily think of a Terminator style fight scene or one of those Top Gear races that pits a skier against an Aston Martin DB9, but the most important contest in modern history was more a battle of wits than speed or power. It took place in New York bringing together the might of the best chess mind, Garry Kasparov, against IBM’s super computer, Deep Blue.
The story of the mesmerising contest is about to be retold at the Campfield Market Hall, Manchester, in Matt Charman’s dramatisation of the event, The Machine. Opening on the 10th July 2013 and running through until the 21st, the play brings to life the media frenzy that surrounded the epic 1997 chess match, as well as the human factors that shaped the course of events.
The play has a 19:30 start Tuesday to Sunday with a 14:30 matinee on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets range between £25 and £35, so there’s a price to suit s everyone’s budget. The first two shows will be preview performances with a reduced ticket price of £18.
The production will debut as part of the Manchester International Festival, but it will go on to be performed at the Park Avenue Armory in New York between the 4th and 18th of September.
Though Deep Blue went on to beat Kasparov over six games of chess, the play will focus more on the human element than the games of chess themselves. Instead it will focus on the genius of the chess champion and his counterpart, IBM’s principle designer of Deep Blue, Dr Feng-Hsiung Hsu.
The Machine is directed by Josie Roarke, artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, building on her previous work for the theatre’s production of The Recruiting Officer.
It’s a two hour production, so it’ll be interesting to see how they draw out the excitement and intrigue of the course of events. With reputations on the line for both Garry Kasperov and IBM, there’s a lot of intrigue and emotion for Charman to draw on.
