Machinal

You won’t want to miss this one.

Ballet Rhode Island will present the world premiere of MACHINAL: A DANCE OF DEFIANCE, the first ballet adaptation of Sophie Treadwell's 1928 expressionist play, running May 7–10 in Providence and May 14–17 in Kingston, RI.

Southbank Theatre Company will stage Sophie Treadwell's expressionist drama MACHINAL, inspired by the real-life case of Ruth Snyder. The play explores themes of societal pressure and individual autonomy through a feminist lens.

Southbank Theatre Company has announced its 2025–2026 season, marking its fifth year of presenting bold, history-inspired theatre in Indianapolis. The season will feature three acclaimed mainstage works—Equivocation by Bill Cain, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and Machinal by Sophie Treadwell.

Machinal, presented by New York Theatre Company at New York City Center Stage II, will be professionally filmed on Friday, July 11 for inclusion in The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT) and the Jerome Robbins Dance Division at Lincoln Center.

New York Theatre Company has announced Queer Night at Machinal set for this week, presented in partnership with Ring of Keys. Learn more about the upcoming event here!

Machinal will extend its run at New York City Center Stage II through mid July. Learn more about Machine and see how to purchase tickets to the extended run here!

You can now get a first look at photos of New York Theatre Company's revival of Machinal by Sophie Treadwell. Learn more about the production and see how to purchase tickets.

Two of the most famous lawyers in modern history are Ross Cellino Jr. and Steve Barnes. A hilarious dark comedy about the law partners, titled Cellino v. Barnes, has been running off-Broadway since last summer, starring Eric William Morris and Noah Weisberg and written by Mike B. Breen and David Rafailedes. 

If the 2020s have occasionally uncomfortably reminded you of the 1920s, you’re not alone. Two Toronto theatre companies are currently using work from and about that turbulent decade to comment on present issues. At the Red Sandcastle, The Flare Productions presents Sophie Treadwell’s seminal work of feminist and Expressionist theatre, MACHINAL, a 1928 play very loosely based on the real-life story of Ruth Snyder, executed at Sing Sing Prison for the murder of her husband. At the Theatre Centre, Tall Poppy Productions presents a new work written and directed by Judy Reynolds, THE BEE’S KNEES, a fictional tale of one of the first women to run for Canadian parliament in the early 1920s.

EastLine Theatre will present their third annual Hispanic Heritage Month production at Westbury Arts with the rarely-produced play MACHINAL by Mexican-American playwright Sophie Treadwell, first seen on Broadway in 1928. Learn more about the production and see how to purchase tickets.

Recently, we had the chance to talk with Rosie Sheehy about taking on the role of Helen Jones, or “The Young Woman,” in Machinal. We discussed what compelled her to join this production, what it is like being a part of a work based on the real life of a woman and what she hopes audiences take away from the piece.

Given the emotional investment required on stage and in the stalls, one feels somewhat shortchanged by a production that invites sympathy for a character with few redeeming features

London Theatre Week is the West End’s biggest promotion, giving you the chance to see over 50 amazing award-winning musicals and stunning plays with tickets from £15, £25 or £35

Legendary drama professor, esteemed historian, celebrated director, and award-winning writer Amnon Kabatchnik has penned a new volume in his critically-acclaimed award-winning reference series.

Onsale now: get tickets for the London transfer of Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal. ‘How can that be? A great sin – a mortal sin – for which I must die and go to hell – but it made me free! One moment I was free!’ 

The Old Vic and Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath have announced the London premiere of Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal, directed by Richard Jones (Endgame, The Hairy Ape) and starring The Stage 100 2024 Rising Star Rosie Sheehy (Oleanna, Romeo and Julie), in a limited run from 11 April-01 June 2024.

With the AI (artificial intelligence) summit at Bletchley Park this week, Machinal at the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath, couldn’t be more timely.

Roundabout Theatre Company has just announced additional casting for the special Benefit Reading of Noël Coward’s Fallen Angels, directed by Scott Ellis. Check out who will join previously announced Kelli O'Hara and Rose Byrne.

Irondale, now celebrating forty years of artistically ambitious, and cutting-edge theatre, presents the world premiere of an original devised work, American Century: Part 1, April 21-May 21, 2023.

Hudson Theatre Works is starting its 10TH season of plays by women playwrights with “Machinal,” by Sophie Treadwell.

Tune in this Wednesday, February 2nd at 12pm ET to Colt Coeur’s Instagram page (@coltcoeur) for a live discussion between Colt Coeur Board member Celia Keenan-Bolger, and her To Kill A Mockingbird co-star Portia.

For the fifth consecutive year, Colt Coeur has welcomed a select group of emerging playwrights and directors to be CoCo Residents. This year’s cohort is comprised of playwrights Lily Gonzales (they/them) and Lizzie Stern (she/her), and directors Borna Barzin (he/him) and Sarah Blush (she/her).

Colt Coeur, in association with creative producer Emma Orme and director Tara Elliott, will present the premiere of Pleasure Machine, a nine-episode audio thriller that collides Sophie Treadwell’s 1928 expressionist drama Machinal with adrienne maree brown’s Pleasure Activism.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest theatrical works (non-musical) from 1920-2020; see if your favorites made the list!