A musical by Matthew McCollum

Directed by Ann Marie Pollard

Public performance on Tuesday, September 10 at 7:30 PM on the Lied Mainstage

Originally developed by Matthew McCollum and A.J. Bermudez

THE GOD MACHINE tells the (mostly) true story of an abolitionist preacher named John Murray Spear, who abandoned his church for Spiritualism and created one of the most bizarre scandals of the 19th century: a “mechanical messiah” that would, if successful, usher in a new era of peace and prosperity on earth. We follow the conception, construction, and ultimate destruction of this machine through the eyes of a follower whose name was deliberately removed from the record, and whose identity remains a mystery: the machine’s Mother Mary. Set to a soundtrack that pulls from folk, old gospel hymns, and progressive rock, THE GOD MACHINE is a liturgical meditation on faith, progress, and our desperate search for a savior.