Machinal

University Theatre, University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado, Denver

About the Show

Machinal has been hailed a deeply moving, expressionistic play that explores the depths of one woman’s struggle against middle-class life in a money-oriented, male-dominated society. The tragedy is the outgrowth of journalistic-playwright Treadwell’s assignment as a reporter at the sensational 1927 trial of stenographer Ruth Snyder for the murder of her husband.

First produced in 1928, the groundbreaking play follows the life of Helen, a young New York stenographer and her fight to live her dreams in the face of the numbing world around her. The play is, in Treadwell’s own words, about “a young woman, ready, eager for life, for love… but deadened, squeezed, crushed by the machine-like quality of the life surrounding her.”

SCHEDULE

November 17-19, 30 & December 1-3 at 8pm.