Centre stage of The Legend of Ned Ludd is this huge yellow machine. With 256 possible versions of the play written, rehearsed and ready to perform, The Machine selects what we see – live, on the night, right in front of our eyes.

If you're curious about the play's unconventional format and how The Machine chooses what scenes you will see, read on...

ARE THERE REALLY 256 POSSIBLE VERSIONS OF THE PLAY?
Yes! There are 23 scenes in the play but in each performance the audience will only see 15 of them. 
7 scenes are fixed and are in every performance, the other 8 scenes performed are randomly selected by The Machine. 

I DON’T UNDERSTAND, HAVE THE ACTORS LEARNT 256 VERSIONS OF THE PLAY?
The actors have learnt 23 scenes, The Machine chooses which 15 scenes are played at a performance, so there are 256 possible combinations of the play!

The tabulated form of the play looks like this:

The 7 scenes in bold are non-negotiable, they are in every performance of the play.
The scenes that are subdivided into A and B columns will have one of those scenes performed and then move onto the next numerical row. 
For instance, for the third scene the machine will either pick scene 3A or 3B. The next scene would then be either scene 4A or 4B – again randomly picked by The Machine.

HOW DOES THE MACHINE WORK?
The Machine looks like a really large coin pusher arcade game, a ball is dropped into the top and as it drops down the machine it bounces off the obstacles to go in different directions. 

If the ball goes left it chooses scene A, if it goes right it chooses scene B.

IS IT REALLY RANDOM?
Yes! The actors, crew and the audience don’t know what will happen until The Machine makes it choice.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A SCENE IS SELECTED?
The chosen scene appears on the screen for audiences and cast to see which scene will be played. 
Kate our Stage Manager is informed which scene has been chosen through her headset, she then picks up the box of props for that scene and sends it down the conveyor belt for the cast.

WHY IS THE PLAY STRUCTURED LIKE THIS?
This is a play about work. That means there is a certain amount of work to do – for both the actors and the audience. The form is trying to mirror the plays content, it reflects how algorithms and automation effect what we can see and what we view. 

WILL I UNDERSTAND THE PLAY IF I’M NOT SEEING ALL THE SCENES?
Yes! The randomly played scenes are stand-alone scenes and which ones you see will not change your understanding of the play. Of course, you are always very welcome to watch again and see other scenes should you wish, or you could buy the playtext!

The Legend of Ned Ludd is at Liverpool Everyman until Sat 11 May, click here to see the performance diary.