Play: Machinal

In 1985, Doris Abramson chose Machinal as her final directing project before her retirement. We thought it fitting to open our tribute to her with a new production of a mesmerizing play that challenges us to reconsider our feelings about our industrialized society. What happens when we worship a machine? In the mechanized world of Machinal, everyone and everything is a cog in the function of the machine: simple, elegant, terrible. A young woman is trapped in a world without empathy, and the clock is ticking. As the play unfolds, Treadwell's expressionist masterpiece explores what might drive her to the desperate actions she eventually takes to be free.

Machinal
By Sophie Treadwell 
Directed by Brianna Sloane
Nov. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10