Columbia University Theatre Arts Program Presents MACHINAL 3/9-12

Columbia University School of the Arts, Theatre Arts Program presents MACHINAL
Written by Sophie Treadwell

Directed by JESS K SMITH

March 9-12, 2011

The Riverside Theatre
91 Claremont Avenue
Between 120th and 122nd Streets

$15 General Admission/$5 Seniors
FREE with Columbia University ID or any other valid student ID
Inspired by the real-life New York murder trial of Ruth Snyder that prompted sensational headlines in 1927, Sophie Treadwell's 1928 Broadway hit Machinal, uncovers the life of Helen, a young woman living in a mechanized world that feels void of humanity. Surrounded by people conforming to the expectations of society, Helen assimilates and becomes a part of the social machine. She goes to work, she marries her boss and she has a child. Then she meets a young man who fuels her lust for life and her need for freedom materializes into a dangerous reality.

Jess K Smith (MFA 2011) unites an exciting ensemble of collaborators to bring new life to an under-produced Expressionist masterpiece about an ordinary woman suffocating in a world of men, money and machines. With aerial trapeze choreography set against an imaginative soundscape of live music and the clatter of typewriters, Smith explores the beauty of escape in a world of number-crunching machines. Set in the late 1920s, on the eve of the financial crash, Machinal is a nightmarish vision that transcends its period and speaks frankly to contemporary urban America. 

Jess K Smith (Director) is a New York-based director originally from Vermont. Recent credits include deCOMPOSITION, an original generative piece that premiered in NY before touring to Seattle last Summer; The Spectacular Demise of Platonov (an original adaptation of Chekhov's first play); 800 Words: The Transmigration of Philip K Dick by Victoria Stewart; The Hardly Wonder by Jason Platt; and I Am The Girl With The Spun Gold Hair by Jennifer Lane. Jess has also developed a number of original ensemble-generated pieces including EDIT, Oz: Re-imagined, Biff's Dream, Requiem, Lady Liberty Blues, Amplified, and In/Out. Her work has been presented at Playwrights Horizons, Seattle Repertory Theatre, On the Boards, Live Girls! Theater, The Erickson, Second Story Rep, and Tacoma Actors Guild. She has served on the boards of a number of theaters and created her own training program during her time in Seattle. She just finished an observation with Punchdrunk and will be assisting on the development of a new piece with the Italian dance-theatre company, Deja Donne, later this Spring. Next she will direct Harlowe, written by Jennifer Lane at 3LD this April. Jess will receive her MFA in Directing from Columbia this Spring and is an alumna of the University of Puget Sound. jessksmith.blogspot.com

Daniel Kluger (Sound Designer) is a sound designer and composer for theatre. With a background in jazz and improvisation, he specializes in original soundscapes with a variety of musical vocabularies and dramaturgical applications. In New York he has worked for The Play Company, Daryl Roth, The Cherry Lane Theatre, Lincoln Center 3, The Playwrights Realm, The Actors Company Theatre, The Flea Theatre, Keen Company, and others. Regionally he has worked for Pig Iron Theatre Company, The Arden Theatre Company, People's Light & Theatre Company, Two River Theatre Company, and others. www.danielkluger.com

Deb O (Set Designer) is a scenic designer. Her credits include Broke Wide Open (Medicine Show Theatre, NY), King Stag and Pippin (Julie Harris Theatre, CO), Five Days In March (Witness Relocation, La Mama, NY), +30 NYC (Center Stage, NY), American Jornalero (Abingdon Theatre, NY), Deep Cover (NY Music Festival), The Savannah Disputation (Old Globe, CA), Panic (Witness Relocation, Dance New Amsterdam), Honk the Musical and Once Upon this Island (Young At Arts, NY), Haggadah (Witness Relocation, La Mama, NY), The Greeks pt 3 (Julliard, NY), Scrooge the Musical (Fairmont, WV), Uncle Vanya, Platonov and Ivanov (Lake Lucille, NY), Expatriate (New Musical, Culture Project, NY), Salsalandia (La Jolla Playhouse, CA), The Witlings (The West End Theatre, NY), The Lacy Project (Premiere, Yale & Ohio Theatre, NY), Jihad the Musical (Edinburgh Festival, Scotland), The Mistakes Madeline Made (Yale Rep, CT). A Yale MFA graduate. www.debodesignstudio.com

Sy Parrish (Aerial Choreography) is a Portland, OR-based aerialist, actor, and choreographer specializing in dance trapeze and physical theater. Sy grew up training and performing with Retro Children's Theatre and first trained in aerial and acrobatics at Do Jump Physical Theater School in Portland. Additional aerial training has included coaching from former Cirque du Soleil aerialists Elsie and Serenity Smith and Brenda Angiel. Regionally Sy worked extensively with Sojourn Theatre where she was part of the devising ensemble for nine productions. Other performances include productions with DO JUMP Extremely Physical Theatre, Hand2Mouth Theatre, New House Theatre, Pelu Theatre, Cirqulous and Circus Artemis. Sy is also co-founder of the aerial company Penumbra and is delighted to be part of the amazing team assembled for Machinal.

Bryen Shannon (Costume Designer) is a New York costume designer. Most recently he has worked on Broadway in the wardrobe department for both The Scottsboro Boys and regularly at Wicked. He has designed The Hardly Wonder and The Spectacular Demise of Platonov with Jess K Smith and the thesis production of A Frontier, As Told By The Frontier by Jason Platt. Bryen is currently studying Life Drawing at the Art Students League.

Carl Wiemann (Lighting Designer). New York (as designer): Restoration Comedy (Exit Pursued by a Bear, dir. Ed Iskandar), Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream (New York Neo-Classical Ensemble, dir. Steve Stout), My Life: Today (Rosie's Broadway Kids, NYMF), Shrunken Heads (Wild House Productions), amongst others. Mr. Wiemann has been the lighting director for The Chase Brock Experience since spring of 2009. Architecture: Founder of Sense Lighting Design, lighting designer for Armani 5th Avenue (NYC), Devonshire Square (London), Social House Restaurant (Las Vegas), Gardens by the Bay (Singapore), New Holland Island (St. Petersburg, Russia), Savannah Children's Museum (Savannah, GA), Al Raha Beach (Abu Dhabi), amongst others. Upcoming: These Seven Sicknesses (EPBB). www.carlwiemann.com

Tickets for events at The Riverside Theatre can be purchased online (www.ColumbiaStages.org); by phone (212.870.6784); or by visiting the box office of The Riverside Theatre. Box Office hours are Thursday-Saturday, 4-8pm; Sunday 12-4pm and 1 hour prior to all performances.

Performance Schedule: (all performances at The Riverside Theatre, 91 Claremont Avenue between 120th and 122nd Sts.)

Wednesday, March 9th at 8pm
Thursday, March 10th at 8pm
Friday, March 11th at 8pm
Saturday, March 12th at 2pm & 8pm

Columbia Stages is the producing arm of the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre
Studies of Columbia University's School of the Arts. Columbia Stages presents a season
of graduate actor and director productions as well as an annual festival of new plays by
emerging playwrights. The theatre program offers MFA degrees in acting, directing,
playwriting, dramaturgy, stage management, and theatre management and producing. The
goal of the program is to provide each student with the foundation for a career in
professional theatre as well as the tools to embrace an ever-changing theatrical landscape
and shape the future of the theatre.

For more information, visit www.ColumbiaStages.org

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