“Machinal” an Eerie Success

At this year’s play cuts for “Machinal,” unlike some students around me, I was enthralled with the creativity and dark concept for the play. After watching just the first scene, featuring the world portrayed as a machine, a woman creeped on by her boss and the concept of that same woman murdering her husband, there was no doubt I had to go see it.

“Machinal” tells the story of Helen Jones, one of the first women to get the electric chair. Jones, brilliantly played by junior Duri Long, has obvious personality problems, anxiety issues and always thinks negatively throughout the play. She strives to be accepted by others around her who are already married, so she forces herself to marry her boss, even though she despises him.

Based in the 1920’s, Machinal portrays the world as a machine, with immovable parts. Everyone moving in motion, few mistakes, plastic smiles, as if each person is a puzzle piece in the world, and nothing else.

I found this aspect of the play intriguing. I haven’t witnessed a play that took on such broad outlooks on life and brought them on stage. The dialogue was a little tough to follow since the lines were short and concise, but I liked that. It was something new, not just a regular old play that I was expecting.

I thought the play was tough to relate to, since it was based around adult themes and among adults. Yet I found the concept interesting enough to grab the viewer. The dark theme and depressing surrounding was enough to engage me throughout the play, and literally had me at the edge of my set.

As the play goes on, Jones ends up falls in love with another man, creating her to become even more anxious and pressured from the world around her. She fights the thoughts of what is love, and what it means to be married, knowing she fell in love with a different man.

Jones finally snaps and murders her husband, breaking a glass bottle filled with stones over his head.

She was found guilty by the court, which sends her to the electric chair.

I thought that the play was executed well. The screams and wails of Long’s monologues made me cringe as I felt legitimate concern for her. That, along with great acting from the rest of the cast, making the stage seem like a machine, and made the play an edge-of-your-seat kind of play. It took concentration to follow, and was dripping with creativity as the cast acted out their lines to the point I felt sad, happy and scared all rolled into one very well done production.

The play left a bad taste in my mouth at the end. The final scene shows Jones, wailing in the electric chair, screaming till the very end, when the electricity goes through her body and ends her life. The curtain then falls, and the crowed is left to digest what just happened. I loved this. It wasn’t the usual happy ending that everyone in the crowd wants, and different is good.

Overall, I was pleased with the entire experience. I could feel the tension throughout the crowed, waiting to see Jones crack.

I was glad to see the East Theater Department taking on new challenges and not settling for a regular play. The only thing I disliked about the the play was during the scene changes, you could see the crew. I didn’t like this, for it distracted me from watching the characters on stage. Though minor, that was my only complaint. Kudos should go out to the theater program for excelling once again in a top notch high school play.

Four Stars

Star Scale:

**** = Tony-worthy

*** = Call for an encore

** = Worth seeing

* = Snoozer