The Adding Machine

Originally produced in 1923, The Adding Machine is a pioneering work of American Expressionism. Rice's play is part satire, part existential black comedy which tells the story of Mr Zero, an ordinary man ground down by 25 years of drudgery in a repetitive job, apparently unaware of, or unable to express, his deepest feelings and desires. When fired, in favour of a mechanical Adding Machine, he impulsively murders his boss, is executed for his crime and finishes up in the 'afterlife' only to discover he isn't much use there either.