Machinal at the Old Vic

A masterpiece of Expressionist theatre, Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal feels just as poignant now as it did at its premiere in 1928. Tackling the horrors of modernity, the stifling nature of loveless marriages and the way people can be driven to murder, it’s a brilliant play brought to life in Richard Jones’s spirited production.

Machinal was inspired by the sensationalised real-life story of Ruth Snyder, who was executed for murdering her husband. It portrays the purgatorial life and death that the Young Woman (Rosie Sheehy) suffers as she reluctantly marries a dull businessman (Tim Frances) to escape her torturous job as a stenographer and, six years later, murders him after years of struggling to cope with her miserable existence.

The Young Woman’s feelings of isolation, suffocation and misery are effectively conveyed by a clever use of Hyemi Shin’s ingeniously claustrophobic set design, which features a narrow set of three yellow walls and only a few props in each scene. Everything threatens to smother her as she goes about her life; a threat enhanced by Sarah Fahie’s clever choreography, which frequently puts Sheehy’s character into uncomfortable situations; and Benjamin Grant’s sound design is beautifully dystopian and ever-present.

But it is Sheehy’s turn as the Young Woman that really steals the show. It’s a tremendously difficult character to play – for a lot of the time she is merely a passive receptor of the horrors the world throws at her, and we see the frustration and existential angst in her expression. At other times she bursts into rage and screams in pure indignancy; and yet again at other points, she can be intimate and endearing. Sheehy’s performance is absolutely breathtaking from start to finish. The supporting cast, too, are effective – Tim Frances is delightfully and comically dull as the husband, and Buffy Davis is a wonderfully unpleasant nagging mother.

Richard Jones’s Machinal is directed with a lot of tact and empathy for the subject matter. It’s a delicate play pulled off exceptionally well; a chilling and uncanny production that shouldn’t be missed.

Michael Higgs
Images: Manual Harlan

Machinal is at the Old Vic from 11^th April until 1^st June 2024. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.