The Long Beach Playhouse has a long history of presenting excellent productions of popular theatrical works but, in the last few years, and under the leadership of Artistic Director Andrew Vonderschmitt, the Playhouse has made a concerted effort to broaden it’s base, and appeal to a more diverse demographic.
Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal was hailed as an Expressionist masterpiece after its 1928 premiere. It has found life many times since then, in part because of a certain feminist perspective that was shocking in its day, and remains engaging today.
Machinal opens this Saturday in the Long Beach Playhouse Studio Theater, a smaller, more intimate, space. Directing the play is Katie Chidester. While this is her first time working at the Playhouse, she’s a veteran, having co-founded The Ninus Company, which creates interactive educational workshops designed to highlight the themes and story lines of works by Shakespeare. She’s directed at the STAGESTheater, TheatreOUT, The Hunger Artists Theater Company, and got her BA in Theater Arts from USC.
“The show is a terrific, dark piece,” Chidester explains, “written in an Expressionist style. It’s loosely based on the murder trial of Ruth Snyder in the 1920’s. The playwright, Sophie Treadwell was a journalist who witnessed the trial and was inspired to write a story of a woman who, trapped by society’s expectations of females, commits a murder and is then tried and executed.
“I am really embarrassed to admit I didn’t read this script ’til a few years ago. It’s been enjoying somewhat of a small surge in interest in the past 10 years. Plays tend to cycle in and out of vogue. When I read it I knew I wanted to tackle it – it’s strange and avant garde and intense and unsettling. Plus, I tend to be typically drawn to feminist-centric pieces, so this was perfect: A drama about a woman’s forced dependency upon men and a trapped existence in a male-dominated wasteland? Heck yeah!!”
The play was recently revived in New York, and by the Open Fist Theater in Los Angeles, which Chidester suggests may indicate a resurgent relevance, but she’s not sure if the playwright’s intent was for it to be a feminist polemic.
“She was definitely a writer that worked to expose female issues. I believe she went under-cover to write a piece posing as a homeless prostitute. She pushed boundaries as a journalist, which may have been attributed to ambition, or a conscious effort to trail-blaze for woman. She was in Europe for WWI as the first female war correspondent. She was also the only journalist from the U.S. to be granted permission to interview Pancho Villa. She’s kinda bad-ass. I was kinda annoyed I never knew anything about her ’til I started this process. This is someone who is made a significant contribution to writing and drama in the early 20th century!”
The story of Ruth Snyder, at the time of her trial and subsequent execution, resulted in a media frenzy the likes of which had not been seen in years. Treadwell saw certain elements as inspirational, but did not rely too heavily on the facts of the case to craft her story.
“The play attempts to give the audience a look into her life to illicit sympathy for The Young Woman. Treadwell leaves little room for any objectivity. We are instructed to feel what The Young Woman is feeling at those moments in her life, looking through the lens of her perspective. There is repetitive dialogue and disorienting sound effects that build tension. The space is to feel slightly claustrophobic at times. Stark, oppressive, relentless.
“In one the first rehearsal with the actors, I used Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ as an illustration for the style we would be tackling. It’s not just about presenting a landscape to an audience. It’s about infusing it with so much emotion that the audience can’t help but feel it as well. It was really the best way I could describe where we were going with the project. I urged the cast to look at German Expressionist film as well. I borrowed a bit from ‘Metropolis.’ It should be noted that I know nothing about the Expressionist art movement. I apologize if I sound horribly pretentious. I literally learned everything I know about it in the last four months. [laughs]”
The cast includes John Conway, Robert Adams, Sherry Denton-Noonan, Lindsay Roman, Mark Coyan, Tiffany Toner, Madeleine Cheezum, Jeff Rice, Alex Bennett, and Jason Kalani Wong. This is the first time Chidester has worked with most of these actors.
“The exception is Tiffany, playing The Young Woman. I’ve known her for a few years, but I’ve never directed her. The ill fated Husband, played by Mark Coyan, is an actor I’ve worked with onstage and directed for almost 12 years. Most recently, he played Marc in Yasmina Reza’s ART, that I directed last summer. Mark and I have probably collaborated on 20 shows together.
“I have one actor, Jason, who is a former Long Beach police officer, and is currently in grad school studying chemistry. He just decided to show up to audition on a whim.”
Chidester admits that, despite the challenges of creating theater in general, working at the Playhouse has been a positive experience.
“It’s pretty incredible to work in a place that continues to thrive after 80 years. Andrew is a great AD, he has a real drive to make the Studio Theater into a place for work that pushes beyond the mainstream. That’s exciting – knowing that we don’t have to worry about censoring ourselves, or the piece. I am so grateful for this opportunity because I get to bring a show I’m passionate about to an audience. What’s cooler than someone trusting you to do that and not mess it up?”
Machinal, which opens May 4 and runs through June 1, is the first of five plays in the Studio Theater’s 2013 Season. Individual and season tickets for Machinal and other productions at the Long Beach Playhouse can be found at LBPlayhouse.org.
The Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 East Anaheim St., (562) 494-1014
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