Red Phoenix Theatre. Goodwood Theatre and Studios. 21 May 2026

 

Machinal was inspired the story of New Yorker Ruth Snyder who, in 1928, was executed via electric chair after being convicted of murdering her husband. Ruth had conspired with her lover to kill her despised husband, and the trial attracted nationwide attention, not least of which was centred on the horrific front-page photograph of her moment of death in the chair.

 

Journalist Sophie Treadwell was one of the many who sat through the trial, but rather than reporting on it for a newspaper, she used it as a basis for the play Machinal which she wrote in the Expressionist style, which favours critique over simplistic storytelling, and an emphasis on what is not said.

 

To that end, this is not a didactic piece or a ‘true crime’ expose. It is instead a series of vignettes in the life of a Young Woman (she is not named until the trial and, spoiler, her name is not Ruth) and while the story line is linear, this style allows for both licence and creativity in the telling and staging of the production.

 

Director Michael Eustice has taken advantage of this license, and run with it admirably, demanding the audience’s attention with sight and sound that overwhelms, but is at the same time beautifully understated.

 

The production opens in an office and the ‘machine’ motif is immediately apparent, a sea of hands busily moving over simulated typewriters and switchboard in a superbly choreographed time and motion study. The almost monochromatic set is immediately striking and deftly sets up the visual style of the production.

 

Here we meet Young Woman (Kate van der Horst) for the first time and learn very quickly that she is the unwilling object of her employer’s (Matt Houston) amorous intentions.

 

At home, she discusses this with her dependent mother (Sharon Marujlo); in this one scene, the gamut of the expressionist critique is walked through, as we consider the lack of support for the elderly, the expectations of marriage and conformity upon women, and the crushing defeatism of routine and obligation.

 

Kate Prescott’s sets are relatively simple, almost utilitarian, while Sean Smith’s industrial sound design forms the consummate accompaniment to set changeovers, and anchors the text.

 

Eustice has made the prudent decision to eschew American accents in this production, a decision that allows the cast to get on with what they do best. A pity more directors don’t adopt this commonsense approach. There are a few suspensions of disbelief; the husband doesn’t portray the level of either blandness or malevolence that should inspire such revulsion, but when the young woman begins her affair, the change in her demeanour makes it clear that he has to go.

 

Van der Horst alone plays every scene, the rest all play multiple roles and it is to Eustice’s credit that they all get a moment to shine. This cast has worked hard, and it is this ensemble commitment that really lifts this production.

 

A special mention must go to Movement Director Lisa Lanzi – there are few props as such, and the movement/mime work of the cast as they work, drink, eat and make merry in thin air is really quite outstanding.

 

Overall, the audience is invested heavily - it’s awkward, troubling, difficult and uncomfortable, but always, always riveting. Even a wardrobe malfunction, which in other productions may have raised a titter, was dutifully ignored by the audience, caught up in the drama of the moment.

 

Eustice has avoided the traditional death scene, and in true expressionist style, it’s what we don’t see that’s the more powerful. This is, quite simply, an insightful and intelligent interpretation of what is considered one of greatest 100 plays of the twentieth century, and plaudits to this company for staging such a difficult but exceptional work.

 

Arna Eyers-White

 

When: 21 to 30 May

Where: Goodwood Theatre and Studios

Bookings: trybooking.com