Machinal at Ballet RI Black Box Theater

In a world that demands silence, she moves.

Sophie Treadwell’s searing 1928 play, a landmark of American expressionism, is reborn in this striking new ballet. Machinal tells the story of a woman caught in the cold machinery of modern life: her body controlled, her voice ignored, her choices not her own. Through stylized choreography and haunting rhythms, this adaptation strips away dialogue to reveal the raw, physical truth of one woman’s rebellion. Stark, visceral, and fiercely contemporary, Machinal is a portrait of alienation — and a dance of defiance.

In collaboration with University of Rhode Island and co-adapter Rachel Walshe, Yury Yanowsky breathes new life into this theatrical masterwork.