Review Roundup: MACHINAL at Greenhouse Theatre Center in Chicago

MACHINAL at the Greenhouse Theatre Center is a re-imagining of the classic play inspired by murderess Ruth Snyder. The cast features Heather Chrisler as Young Woman, Sean Gallagher as Husband, Cody Proctor as Lover, and Carin Silkaitis as Mother. The ensemble includes Maddie Burke, Maddie DePorter, Sarah Rachel Schol, Scott Shimizu, Paul Michael Thomson, and Jonah Winston.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune: But what makes Jacob Harvey's superbly directed show in the upstairs space at the Greenhouse distinctive is not the clipped vocals or the fatalistic visuals, although those qualities are present in this highly polished production, which uses movement by Elizabeth Margolius and a shrewdly kinetic little set from Eleanor Kahn. It's the atypically deep dive into the psyche of the Young Woman and the show's ability to universalize her dilemma and forge a palpable everywoman from her misery with her husband (played wth apt cluelessness by Sean Gallagher)... Chrisler is at once the strongest Young Woman I've seen and the most vulnerable. This really is a remarkable performance, seemingly coming at some cost to the actress herself. When Chrisler's Young Woman says, "When he puts his hand on me, my blood turns cold," you'll feel like someone just introduced a frigid coagulate into the vital fluid of life.

Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times: Director Jacob Harvey and movement director Elizabeth Margolius, along with their exceptional team of designers, have devised a painfully vivid yet minimalist production in which Treadwell's dialogue - a mix of stark modernism and fiery poetry - create their own stunning music. And in the central role of Helen, the "Young Woman," Heather Chrisler gives one of those soul-shattering, exposed-nerves performances that takes your breath away from the moment she appears onstage. The actress' searing take on the role requires total vulnerability wedded to total abandon... Serving as something of a Greek chorus in this American tragedy are a group of actors who, along with Silkaitis and Gallagher, include Maddie DePorter, Maddie Burke, Sarah Rachel Schol, Scott Shimizu, Paul Michael Thomson and Jonah Winston (in a mightily impressive turn as a Roman Catholic priest). Their uniformly superb command of stylized movement and syncopated dialogue is exceptional.

Mary Shen Barnidge, Windy City Times: Treadwell recounts her story in the non-representational mode known as Expressionism, its text encompassing orchestrated group dialogues, stream-of-conscious soliloquies and other emotive distortions rarely encountered today. Fortunately, director Jacob Harvey has enlisted the aid of Elizabeth Margolius, who creates scenery from human bodies on Eleanor Kahn's starkly minimalist arena-arranging actors in a tight cluster of staccato vocals and spastic movement to suggest the pressures of a crowded office, for example, or lining up Helen's persecutors in military review formation as their forlorn prisoner reflects on a life journey bringing nothing but despair.

Alex Huntsberger, Time Out Chicago: The play is riddled with dreamlike moments, brought to life here through the work of movement director Elizabeth Margolius. And although some of the staging doesn't always make the best use of the space (the opening office scrum, for instance, gets crammed too far upstage), Margolius's work is the pulsing, persistent backbeat that drives the production forward. She renders the script's expressionist flourishes down into substance and strikingly evokes the panic and horror of the protagonist's inner life. Then again, a great deal of credit also goes to Chrisler, who almost never leaves the stage, and on whose shoulders the entire play rests. (Gallagher and Silkaitis are also wonderful.) The force that she brings to her performance is matched only by the specificity. In a play that so often trades in symbols instead of characters, she brings the needed tragic fury, but carves it into a form that's so darn human-shaped, you could swear that it wasn't bronze at all-that it was the real thing.

Nancy Bishop, Third Coast Review: Director Jacob Harvey and movement director Elizabeth Margolius both get top of the playbill credit. Throughout the play, the movements of the characters are carefully choreographed, especially the ensemble members, who play many roles. Machinal is a splendid visual treat, but it's also a dramatic story about the Young Woman, who is oppressed by her family, her work and the men in her life.

Jessie Bond, Splash Magazine: Heather Chrisler leads the cast as The Young Woman, and what a magnificent leader she makes. Chrisler embodies the everywoman character's intense emotional states with a powerful stage presence and nuanced acting choices. The rest of the ensemble is strong as well, with each performer taking on a variety of roles with detailed and precise choices. Set design by Eleanor Kahn manifests the dreary, mechanical world of the play with grey tones and hard edges. Props are minimal, to the detriment of the story. The Young Woman's gloves, which are essential not only symbolically but as evidence in her trial as well, are only mimed, reducing their impact and memorability as a plot point... Machinal is a powerful, intelligently constructed text that has an unfortunately acute resonance with contemporary life. Greenhouse Theater Center's production brings this essential text to stark and impactful life, and it is not to be missed.

Photo: greenhousetheatre.org

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