Machinal is a play that demonstrates very well what it feels like to be trapped in a cycle or a ‘machine’. The play describes many machines, such as patriarchy, religion, prison, marriage, working, and more. The main character is a young woman, and we learn late in the play that her name is Helen. Helen’s experience helps the audience experience a woman’s point of view in the machines of life. The unique nature of this play would make it difficult to direct. However, the playwright, Sophie Treadwell, gives us many tools and specific stage directions to help. With these specific instructions, there are ways to overcome these challenges and produce a play that anyone can enjoy and understand.
One unique thing about this play is that Treadwell wrote very specific directions for the play at the beginning of the script. She tells us the plot, the plan, and the hope of the play, as well as instructions on how to light and stage it. This gives us great insight into what the play is meant to accomplish. In the paragraph titled ‘The Plan’, she writes, “The Plan is to tell this story by showing the different phases of life that the woman comes in contact with, and in none of which she finds any place, any peace... Business, home, marriage, having a child, seeking pleasure - all are difficult for her - mechanical, nerve-nagging.” We know from this introductory paragraph that she wants the audience to see and understand the life of a woman stuck in the machinery of life and that she doesn’t find any peace. She also says, “The Plot is the story of a woman who murders her husband - an ordinary young woman, any woman.” It’s interesting that she specifies that the plot of this story is meant to portray “any woman.” This makes it easy to cast, and all of these instructions would help the actor who plays the young woman know how to portray her.
One interesting, but crucial part of this play is the various and overlapping sounds throughout the show. Many scenes have confusing dialogue, lines spoken from offstage, sound effects, and music. But Treadwell gives us specific instructions on how to do this logistically and the reasoning for it. She says, “Then there is, also, the use of many different sounds chosen primarily for their inherent emotional effect... but contributing also to the creation of a background, an atmosphere.” From this direction, we know that these sounds are part of the world in which this story takes place. The sounds are also meant to envelop the audience in the story. One example of this is in Episode One: To Business. The directions at the beginning of the scene say, “Sounds: office machines: typewriters, adding machine, manifold, telephone bells, buzzers.” This opening scene can leave the audience surrounded by sounds, but this is exactly what Treadwell wants. The many sounds leave us confused and overwhelmed, much like the Young Woman feels at the end of the scene, which we see from her monologue that finishes the scene.
Because of the expressionistic nature of the play, the sets and lighting are a big part of how we tell the story. Treadwell writes, “Scenically this play is planned to be handled in two basic sets,” and she goes on to describe the sets. These descriptions are very specific and helpful to us in how the sets are made and how the actors will enter and exit from the stage. It also paints a picture in our minds of how it should look. In regards to props, she says, “There is a change of furniture, and props for each episode - only essential things, full of character.” From this, we know that few props are used in the show and that every prop is essential to the story. Logistically this is helpful because we have few props to keep track of and to get on and offstage. Treadwell also writes which props are used at the beginning of each scene. The lighting is described as “concentrated and intense. - Light and shadow - bright light and darkness.” The lighting adds so much to the story because of the simple nature of the set and props. As an audience member, being in the darkness during the transitions and hearing the changes in music or sounds enhances the feelings of confusion and helps us get into the mindset of the young woman.
The specific instructions that Treadwell gives us help us tell the story. She even tells us what the hope of Machinal is. She says, “The Hope is to create a stage production that will have ‘style,’ and at the same time, by the story’s own innate drama, by the directness of its telling, by the variety and quick changingness of its scenes, and the excitement of its sounds, to create an interesting play.” If I were to direct this show, I’d hope the audience experiences more than ‘an interesting play’. I’d hope for the audience to leave feeling the effects of the machine(s) described: the expectation for women to be perfect homemakers, the pressure involved in sexual relationships, religious machines that claim to only want what’s best for you, and more. More than anything, I would hope that the people in the audience feel seen, especially women, and that they feel empowered to leave the machines they feel trapped in (without committing violent crimes of course). I hope all audience members leave with a better understanding of the machine and how to end cycles in their own lives.
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