Review: MACHINAL and THE BEE'S KNEES at Red Sandcastle/The Theatre Centre
If the 2020s have occasionally uncomfortably reminded you of the 1920s, you’re not alone. Two Toronto theatre companies are currently using work from and about that turbulent decade to comment on present issues. At the Red Sandcastle, The Flare Productions presents Sophie Treadwell’s seminal work of feminist and Expressionist theatre, MACHINAL, a 1928 play very loosely based on the real-life story of Ruth Snyder, executed at Sing Sing Prison for the murder of her husband. At the Theatre Centre, Tall Poppy Productions presents a new work written and directed by Judy Reynolds, THE BEE’S KNEES, a fictional tale of one of the first women to run for Canadian parliament in the early 1920s.
Review: MACHINAL, The Old Vic
Given the emotional investment required on stage and in the stalls, one feels somewhat shortchanged by a production that invites sympathy for a character with few redeeming features
London Premiere of Sophie Treadwell's MACHINAL Announced
The Old Vic and Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath have announced the London premiere of Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal, directed by Richard Jones (Endgame, The Hairy Ape) and starring The Stage 100 2024 Rising Star Rosie Sheehy (Oleanna, Romeo and Julie), in a limited run from 11 April-01 June 2024.
Review: MACHINAL, Theatre Royal Bath
With the AI (artificial intelligence) summit at Bletchley Park this week, Machinal at the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath, couldn’t be more timely.
Photos: First Look at MACHINAL at Theatre Royal Bath
Five-time Olivier Award winning director Richard Jones brings Sophie Treadwell’s extraordinary epic masterpiece Machinal, based on the true story of the committal and execution of Ruth Snyder, to the Ustinov Studio. Check out all new photos here!
BWW Review: MACHINAL, Almeida Theatre
Machinal, written by Sophie Treadwell, is based on the sensational 1927 trial of Ruth Snyder, a housewife who murdered her husband. It is a play largely about a woman attempting to find her own agency, with little success, despite the restraints of being a wife and mother. While the Almeida production boasts a wonderful set and the modern relevancy is clear, it ultimately falls short of its source material.
Michael Urie-Led HAMLET Finds Full Cast at Shakespeare Theatre Company
The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) announces the cast and creative team for Hamlet, directed by STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn and featuring acclaimed actor Michael Urie as the tortured Danish prince. Shakespeare's most celebrated tragedy will run January 16-February 25, 2018 at Sidney Harman Hall.
Michael Urie-Led HAMLET Finds Full Cast at Shakespeare Theatre Company
The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) announces the cast and creative team for Hamlet, directed by STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn and featuring acclaimed actor Michael Urie as the tortured Danish prince. Shakespeare's most celebrated tragedy will run January 16-February 25, 2018 at Sidney Harman Hall.
Through the Lens of a Woman MACHINAL Challenges America's Social Imprisonment
Sophie Treadwell's groundbreaking classic Machinal rips the fa ade of social customs away by forcing the audience to see life through the eyes of a young woman in the 1920s. Inspired by the real-life story of Ruth Snyder, Helen is the lens through which the mechanics of America are seen. Directed by The Speakeasy Society's co-artistic director Julianne Just, Machinal is what happens when we push against the prescribed roles of society and how much we force ourselves into those roles, and how we feel trapped by them , said Just.