Thursday, April 23 to Sunday, April 26 in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall’s Glenn Close Theatre, the College of William and Mary’s theater and performance department held performances of the play “Machinal,” directed by visiting assistant teaching professor Bryan Schmidt.
This expressionist play was originally written in 1928 by American playwright and journalist Sophie Treadwell and is based on the true story of Ruth Snyder, a woman executed earlier that same year for murdering her husband. Treadwell’s work deals with themes of societal control and the objectification of women in the 1920s. Its title, which translates to “mechanical” in French, exposes the dehumanizing, industrial and machine-like nature of the time period. The play follows the life of Helen Jones, portrayed in the College’s production by Allison Monfalcone ’28, as she navigates deeply ingrained systems of industrial and patriarchal capitalism.
Audience member Dorian Roberts ’27 was very impressed with the production, which left them awestruck and in goosebumps. They spoke on the play’s primary message.
“The biggest focus is definitely the experience of women at this time and what they really experienced in such a male-dominated world and the pressures they are put under and what that can drive some people to do, really painting such a really raw but really real picture of what women can experience,” Roberts said.
The play tells its story through nine “episodes,” each representing a distinct phase in Helen’s life. The show opens in a bustling office with constant phone calls and endless paperwork. It is here we are introduced to Helen’s work as a stenographer, and where we meet the boastful and overbearing businessman and boss George H. Jones, portrayed here by Brennan Gordon Metz ’28. In order to secure financial and societal stability for herself and her mother, whom she is tasked to support, Helen begrudgingly agrees to marry Mr. Jones.
Their transactional marriage leaves Helen in a constant state of unease and uncertainty, though her crumbling mental state goes completely unnoticed by her self-indulgent husband. Helen then gives birth to their only child, a little girl, yet feels no connection to the baby and remains mentally alienated.
However, in a rare moment of happiness and pleasure for Helen, she engages in a clandestine affair with the endearing yet noncommittal Richard Roe, played by Jonathan Aspin ’27. It is with him that she believes she finally knows the feeling of true love. Following their brief connection, and Helen’s learning of his murderous past in Mexico, the seeds of her own crime are planted.
Helen then murders her husband, Mr. Jones, and is subsequently put on trial. Ultimately, an affidavit from Mr. Roe solidifies her culpability and leads to her confession and eventual execution by electric chair.
Despite the differences between the contents of each episode, Treadwell weaves them together through a common theme of isolation and alienation. Though Helen is almost never physically alone, she is unable to escape a perpetual sense of drowning and suffocation caused by the stifling societal demands of 1920s America. It is this discontent and dissatisfaction that brings Helen to cling desperately to any fleeting shreds of freedom, both of which she hopes to find in the death of her husband.
While speaking on the actors’ performances, Cai Luzak ’27 was impressed with their subtle approaches.
“I thought it was really clever. The performances really anchored it for me,” Luzak said. “I really appreciated the depth that the actors brought to their performances. I felt like it was really, really nuanced portrayals in a show that often hinges on being really mechanical.”
The play’s dark themes demanded maturity and commitment to character from its cast of 12. The set also enhanced the story through a rotating platform that represented a different room each time it was turned. This mechanism allowed audience members to be engulfed into Helen’s world, briefly glimpsing what life looked and felt like for a woman living in the 1920s. Additionally, the persistent presence of fog on the stage represented Helen’s gloomy sense of isolation, and the stage lighting expressed each character’s emotions.
Chloe Smith ’28 was deeply affected by the show’s somewhat uncomfortable subject matter.
“I thought overall it was very incredible, and I also feel very sick and anxious after watching it,” Smith said.
Smith believed one of the play’s main messages was about femininity, as well as the pressures of the patriarchy and the roles that women are confined to. They felt this was exemplified in the opening episode, “To Business.”
“The first one really stood out to me whenever it was just everyone speaking at once, a bunch of different things going on, and then slamming the papers on their desk,” Smith said. “I felt sick just watching that scene, and so I think it set the tone very well.”
For Luzak, the most powerful scene was the closing sequence before Helen’s execution, titled “A Machine.” The episode features chanting from a priest in the moments leading to Helen’s death, which Luzak felt captured lots of emotion, especially regarding her abuse and trauma.
Despite being written nearly 100 years ago, Treadwell’s writing remains an impactful piece for young people today and works to remind us of the dangers of oppressive gendered systems. Its raw portrayal of mental isolation and fabricated human connection encourages audience members to hold on to their independence, freedom and humanity while rejecting societal standards that subjugate women and keep them subordinate to men.
If you didn’t get a chance to catch this performance, the theater and performance department has a number of upcoming shows this fall semester including Anna in the Tropics, Danceevent and Reefer Madness.
