Machinal (NHB Classic Plays): 0

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Stenographer is an unnamed, dry female character who, in the first episode, helps emphasize and embellish the noises of the office as she audibly recites portions of stale, business letters. George H. Jones is the owner of George H. Jones Company. He employs the Adding Clerk, Filing Clerk, Stenographer, Telephone Girl and Helen Jones. He is a fat, slovenly man, but he is harmless. His hands are large and flabby; they disgust Helen. George is more dedicated to work than anything else and it shows because his business is successful. Although George’s company is successful, he has never been married. He takes a special interest in Helen and decides to ask his office worker to take his hand in marriage. Reluctantly, Helen accepts, mostly because of the prodding of her mother. Helen becomes Mrs. Jones for the sake of monetary stability. She feels no love for George and, in fact, is repulsed by everything about the man. George is patient and, in a way, loving towards his new bride. He is not forceful with his sexual advances and he is eager to support both Helen and her mother. George plans to give both women a nice, comfortable life, he is willing to be faithful and compassionate, and he yearns to start a family. In many ways, George has the potential to be a good, loving husband. Soon after their marriage, Helen gives birth to their firstborn. George is excited to be a father and support his family. He is a good provider, but Helen constantly feels trapped by her husband, child, mother and life. Eventually, Helen murders George to free herself from her constraints. Ironically, she evens see murder as a better option than divorce for George because Helen does not want to hurt him by ending their marriage. This belief is both sad and insane. Helen believes divorce would do more damage to George than ending his life. Treadwell set herself apart from many female writers of her day, by pursuing commercial productions of her works on Broadway. Seven of Treadwell's plays, listed below, appeared on the Great White Way between 1922 and 1941. [4] Gringo was Treadwell's first play to be produced on Broadway. [2] Most of these plays were only written by Treadwell, but she also produced Lone Valley and O, Nightingale, the later of which she even staged. [4] New York became the setting for the majority of Treadwell's plays. [5] Right, let's talk about something that actually is an undisputed Greek tragedy. When you watch Antigone, is your reaction that you just want to shake some sense into the heroine? This is a play written in anger. In the dead wasteland of male society – it seems to ask – isn't it necessary for certain women, at least, to resort to murder?' - Nicholas Wright

Open-source PDF of Machinal at: http://www.ciaranhinds.eu/pdf/machinal.pdf & http://www.openfist.org/attached%20documents%20(pdf)/OF-Play-MACHINAL.pdf

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In contrast to George, Helen wants to live on her own terms, and so she rejects the tyranny of industrial or mechanical life. This is why she can’t stand to ride on the subway. “I had to get out!” she says, justifying why she’s late to work. When her colleagues ask, “Out where?” she says, “In the air!” She then clarifies, saying, “I thought I would faint! I had to get out in the air!” This response perfectly juxtaposes the mechanical world with the natural world—suffocation versus fresh “air”—and Helen speaks about riding the subway as if it’s a threat to her very life, framing it as something that deprives her of the most fundamental biological necessity: oxygen. Because this conversation occurs at the beginning of the play, Helen’s fear of the mechanical world may at first seem overdramatic, but considering that she’s later put to death by an electric chair—an ordinary piece of furniture repurposed and outfitted with fatal machinery—her concerns emerge as valid and even visionary. Berrington is best known as one of the android protagonists of TV’s ‘Humans’. Here she’s the play’s only real jolt of actual humanity, everyone else is really just a cog in the societal engine. She does a good job. Her small, pale, porcelain frame is constantly oppressed by the gloom and bodies around her. Speaking in a noivous Brooklyn accent, she is brittle, bright and painfully on edge. We feel acutely for her as she timidly follows the path laid out for her, marrying one man, having an affair with another, then eventually snapping. It was unfortunate that word was sent broadcast before the first performance of Machinal that its theme and characters grew out of the notorious Snyder-Gray murder case," wrote Perriton Maxwell, editor of Theatre Magazine. "The play bears no likeness to the sordid facts of that cheap tragedy … Machinal transcends the drab drama of the police court; it has a quality one finds it difficult to define, a beauty that cannot be conveyed in words, an aliveness and reality tinctured with poetic pathos which lift it to the realm of great art, greatly conceived and greatly presented." Calling Machinal "the most enthralling play of the year," Maxwell attributed the play's success to "three remarkable persons: Sophie Treadwell, Arthur Hopkins and Zita Johann." [6]

A production of Machinal was presented by the Richard Burton Theatre Company at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff in February 2019. New York Theater. “Machinal Review: Is This What Feminism Looked like in 1928?” New York Theater, 31 Dec. 2014, newyorktheater.me/2014/01/16/machinal-review-is-this-what-feminism-looked-like-in-1928/. Sheehy, returning to the Ustinov after her fantastic run in David Mamet’s Oleanna a couple of years ago, delivers a magnificent performance of earth-shattering magnitude. A 3-act play set both in the upper-east side and an upper-west side of New York City, with a multiracial cast who portray a range of socioeconomically divided characters from a lawyer and politician—to a laborer and a criminal [5]Nason, Peter (7 April 2020). "BWW Exclusive: The 101 GREATEST PLAYS of the Past 100 Years (1920-2020)". Broadwayworld.com . Retrieved 23 October 2020. Rosie Sheehy plays the unnamed “young woman” and cements her reputation as an astounding stage talent with her magnificent performance, as physical as it is psychological. The play invites expressive choreography and this revival excels in its movement (by Sarah Fahie), seeming like a dance at times. Treadwell is credited with writing at least 39 plays, [3] numerous serials and journalistic articles, short stories, and several novels. The subjects of her writings are as diverse as the mediums she was writing in. Many of Treadwell's works are difficult to obtain and the majority of her plays have not previously been produced. Look, it's a Greek tragedy. Couldn't be clearer. In the scene where she's at work, the rest of the typing pool is obviously the chorus. Machinal is an expressionist piece of theatre, and this element of the performance allows for a deeper and more contemporary message to be put forth. Expressionism a style of painting, music, or drama in which the artist or writer seeks to express emotional experience rather than impressions of the external world. Expressionism often contains features including, distortion, exaggeration and abnormality in line, shape, proportion and coloring. Anthropomorphism is also commonly used which is the projection of human qualities onto inanimate objects. Expressionism originated in Germany in the early 20th century and was a pivotal moment in the world of theatre. The style moved away from both the melodramatic and naturalistic acting styles prominent at the time, and required actors to embody objects and ideas. Expressionism allowed for a cultural transformation “in social consciousness and ethical commitment, as well as an artistic form and aesthetic philosophy, expressionism sought to revolutionize German society and renew its faith in humanity” (Kuhns 1). Rather than enjoying a piece of entertainment, expressionistic productions asked audiences to confront social problems, to see the world from a viewpoint different than their own and to begin to ask themselves difficult questions. Originally society responded negatively to expressionist theatre as it was very contemporary and dealt with concepts that made the audience feel uncomfortable. It can be said that the expressionistic form that Treadwell employs is the most vital component to Machinal’s success. The expressionistic style that is utilized as the dramatic structure of Machinal allowed her to use the Snyder murder trial non-specifically. Within Machinal Treadwell does not tell a biographical story of Ruth Snyder but rather a story of a Young Woman whose life resembles that of Ruth Snyder and whose society resembles our own. Treadwell employs various expressionistic techniques which will be discussed throughout this paper, including abandoning the traditional Act/Scene structure and having it be divided episodically, the identification of characters, the subjective point of view, speech patterns, the simplicity of props and the symbolic meaning of lights and sound. Through all of these expressionistic approaches that are employed, Treadwell is able to deliver a more complex and deep production highlighting the female oppression that was so prevalent at the time.

The title of the play translates into English as mechanical or automatic or involuntary, suggesting a not so much an android machine-man as man behaving with mechanical unthinking as if stripped of their humanity rather than transformed. This theme is pursued in several ways in the play, aside from the title. With the ironic exception of George H. Jones, the characters are not given names at all or the name is not immediately revealed upon introduction. For instance, Helen’s name is only revealed halfway through and she is listed in the script as Young Woman most of the time, but simply Woman in one scene. Likewise, the minor characters are known simply by occupation such as Stenographer, Doctor, Court Report, Priest. In addition to being reduced to a mechanistic name, much of the dialogue—especially that of the minor characters—is machine-like repetition filled with trite and mundane words and ideas. Communication, Isolation and Alienation Many of Treadwell's plays follow the traditional late nineteenth century well-made play structure, but some share the more modern style and feminist concerns Treadwell is known for, including her often anthologized Machinal. [3] Although Treadwell's plays primarily feature lead female characters, the women presented vary greatly in their behavior, beliefs, and social status. [3] Some of Treadwell's plays contain hints of autobiography from Treadwell's heritage to her extra-marital affair. [3] Below is a chronological chart of her known works. The Young Woman is controlled throughout the entire play. From her boss, to her husband, to even the man she chooses to have an affair with- every scene involves her being dictated to or controlled to do something, oftentimes against her own will, until we reach the key scene where she does choose... and society recoils at her one true decision. Treadwell — who, at the time, was more famous for being the wife of W.O. McGeehan, a sportswriter at the New York Herald-Tribune, than for being a playwright — worked fast. The play premiered on Broadway Sept. 7, 1928, following a tryout in New Haven, less than eight months after Snyder's death. The production was produced and directed by Arthur Hopkins, a powerhouse in his day, and regarded as the thinking man's Broadway producer. With the production, he said he sought to "liberate the stage from the confinement of box sets and give greater scope for lighting." Zita Johann played the Young Woman, the character based on Snyder, and George Stillwell was the Husband. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Maxwell, Perriton (November 1928). "The Editor Goes to the Play". Theatre Magazine. New York: Theatre Magazine Company. p.46.

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Kabatchnik, Amnon. "Machinal" Blood on the Stage, 1925-1950: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection, Scarecrow Press, 2010, ISBN 0810869632, p. 217 Sure, you always have a choice, because you're a strong, capable, rational person. But she isn't. Many people are like that. Gaspingly intense... Machinal remains pretty extraordinary stuff... [Treadwell's] spare, percussive language frequently feels like it could have been written yesterday' Time Out

A production of Machinal was presented at the Bolton Theater at Kenyon College, Gambier, OH on February 1–2, 2019, directed by Anton Dudley and starring Delilah Draper, Teddy Fischer and Alec Ogihara. [22] one-act [2] set in a NY apartment and the characters are dancer Senorita Viviana Ybarra y De La Guerra, businessman John S. Watkins, and musician Senor Alvaredos. The subject matter of the play is both domestic and romantic [5]Abetted by designer Miriam Buether and team, director Natalie Abrahami crafts a gaspingly claustrophobic series of vignettes. Twitching to Arthur Pita’s discretely pummeling choreography, the cast are hemmed in by a low, sloped, mirrored ceiling, with retina-searing bars of lights marking the frequent scene changes. It is intensely atmospheric. In episode four Helen gives birth to her firstborn. The doctor comes into the room and the nurse explains that Helen does not want her baby and appears weak because she gags when her husband enters. The doctor insists that Helen breastfeed; she refuses and asks to be left alone. The doctor is confused and perturbed by her behavior. Through the use of various 'isms' these playwrights explored new and alternative ways of presenting women's lives in their plays. [3]