A new production of "Machinal" transforms a woman's unhappy marriage into an acting relay
As warbling 1920s jazz drifts through the small theater and the actors suddenly emerge from all four corners and begin to assemble the set in a chaotic jumble of bodies and office furniture, the tone is set for the rest of the play: his interpretation of Sophie Treadwell's 1928 play "Machinal" makes the job of an audience member that of a detective.
Reduced to its simplest terms, "Machinal" is the story of Helen, a woman working in an office to support her mother who feels pressured by society and circumstance to marry her boss and then finds herself unhappy with her life. The narrative unfolds in nine separate vignettes but the confusion arises from the fact that the six actresses in the company hand off the role of Helen in each vignette. This device, which could be used to show the universality of the female condition, only leads to a greater dispersal, with each actress paraded out scene by scene to provide their interpretation of the Helen character. Such differing degrees are on displays that it's conceivable that the plot might be about schizophrenia.
The high points of the production are when the actors truly take advantage of their time in the spotlight: it often feels like a relay race where if you're not engaged by one performance, you have only to wait to the next scene for a fresh face. Zenzelé Cooper gives a commanding performance as the harangued and conflicted Helen who rails at her mother (Celli Pitt) with all the ferocity of a caged creature as she pretends to debate whether or not to marry George H. Jones, all the while knowing that her decision is made and her path is inescapable. Nurit Monacelli is beautifully, tragically restrained as a Helen striken mute by the birth of her daughter and spiritual conflict. She is practically vibrating with willfully contained passion and life before devolving into choked gasps and an incomprehensible, neurotic, stream-of-consciousness monologue. Celli Pitt is simply a diva who owns whatever scene she is in. She's vaguely overwhelming but absolutely captivating and breathes life into the play. The two men, Darrell Stokes and Jason Winfield, supply the necessary roles with incredible facility and finesse and if at times they seem miscast, they both rise to their respective challenges admirably.
The production seems to want to be too many things at once, failing to focus on a coherent production. The music and costumes strike the wrong tone and the show seems to struggle with whether it wants to evoke or update its sources. However, on the whole the good performances outweigh the mediocre ones and the production can probably be forgiven for its strained resources.
Ticket Information: "Machinal" runs through March 7, with Fridays and Saturday shows at 8pm, Sundays at 5pm, and Mondays at 7pm, presented by the Blessed Unrest Company at The Interart Theatre Located on 500 West 52nd Street. Tickets are $15.00 and available at blessedunrest.org.
Caterine Tan is a staff writer. E-mail her at theater@nyunews.com.
