Presentation Type
Oral Presentation - Campus Access Only
Category
Visual and Performing Arts (includes Creative Writing; sculpture, painting, video, dancing, music, reading, etc.)
Abstract/Artist Statement
I want to briefly introduce Machinal dramaturgy.
[ˈma-kə-ˌnal] Machinal means “automatic” or “mechanical” in French.
1. Play and Playwright
The play has a modernist and expressionist style, which was written by American author Sophie Treadwell in 1928, and it is based on a real-life story about the first woman- Ruth Snyder, who murdered her husband and was executed in an electric chair in the same year at Sing Sing prison in NYC.
When the play opened on Broadway on September 7, 1928, it achieved success, and since then, this play has been performed many times.
Sophie Treadwell was an American playwright, journalist, novelist, producer, actor and director in an early-twentieth century. She wrote many works and she was best known for her play Machinal, in it, she considered what would drive a woman to be a murderer.
2. Early 20th Century America
The play has a special background, occurring during the period between the explosions of the two world wars, and after the first period of the feminist movement in America, when women got the right to vote. In this period when industrialization and social contradictions were developing, more and more modern female playwrights emerged, such as Sophie Treadwell, who depicted a daily life that they were familiar with and revealed the problems of society. At the same time, they started to explore new artistic methods, such as modernist and expressionist drama styles.
Expressionism is the key word in this play
It was first used in France after the twentieth century to
Describe a style of painting. Expressionism developed in Germany around 1905 as a movement in art and literature in which the representation of reality is distorted to communicate inner feelings.
Expressionist Theatre
It was a first cousin to symbolism, and it had well-defined characteristics. Expressionist plays are highly subjective:
The protagonist seems distorted or dreamlike.
It is often opposed to society and the family.
The protagonist journeys through a series of incidents that usually are not causally related.
It is structured as station dramas. (the role and Christ)
The characters are representative types rather than names.
The language is telegraphic and short lines.
3. Nine episodes and theme
In 1928, when Sophie Treadwell read the New York Daily News, and saw a front-page photograph of Ruth Snyder mid-electrocution under the headline "DEAD!", she felt concern that the woman’s fate was lost in the sensationalism. She wrote Machinal in nine episodes, and each one represents an emotional semiotics, as well as expresses a human mood.
This play describes the fate of a young women. Women belong to half the power of the world. However, when we read Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, we sympathize with Anna for committing suicide for love; while we read Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Nora Helmer, we worry about what will happen to her after she runs away from home and lost love. Now, Treadwell’s YOUNG WOMAN is suffering in the same situation, seeing the photograph of her sitting in the electric chair, in addition to deep feelings of sympathy, we also think more about questions of how to be a woman, and how to oppose male chauvinism and social oppression.
Mentor Name
Bernadette Sweeney
Personal Statement
I studied Chinese Theatre in China, and received B.A. in drama script writing at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, and an M.A. in drama theory at the Chinese National Academy of Art Graduate School. While studying Chinese theatre, I also began to review and translate some visiting western theatre performances in local journals; this helped launch my love for better understanding of these two great traditions of theatre. At that point I also began to plan to come to the U.S. for the purpose of studying western theatre and to have an opportunity to see how the two traditions differ and intersect. From 2018, I move to America and took several Theatre classes at the University of Montana, and found the practice of dramaturgy deeply inspiring and now am considering whether that may be the direction of my future theatre work. During my graduate work I am interested in examining what the stories of eastern theatre can bring to western theatre and how they might be adapted for different audiences around the world. I also plan to spend time reading theatre drama theory and, along with various scripts, consider translating them into Chinese. I am delighted to now be a MA Theatre student studying at the University of Montana.
MACHINAL Dramaturgy
UC South Ballroom
I want to briefly introduce Machinal dramaturgy.
[ˈma-kə-ˌnal] Machinal means “automatic” or “mechanical” in French.
1. Play and Playwright
The play has a modernist and expressionist style, which was written by American author Sophie Treadwell in 1928, and it is based on a real-life story about the first woman- Ruth Snyder, who murdered her husband and was executed in an electric chair in the same year at Sing Sing prison in NYC.
When the play opened on Broadway on September 7, 1928, it achieved success, and since then, this play has been performed many times.
Sophie Treadwell was an American playwright, journalist, novelist, producer, actor and director in an early-twentieth century. She wrote many works and she was best known for her play Machinal, in it, she considered what would drive a woman to be a murderer.
2. Early 20th Century America
The play has a special background, occurring during the period between the explosions of the two world wars, and after the first period of the feminist movement in America, when women got the right to vote. In this period when industrialization and social contradictions were developing, more and more modern female playwrights emerged, such as Sophie Treadwell, who depicted a daily life that they were familiar with and revealed the problems of society. At the same time, they started to explore new artistic methods, such as modernist and expressionist drama styles.
Expressionism is the key word in this play
It was first used in France after the twentieth century to
Describe a style of painting. Expressionism developed in Germany around 1905 as a movement in art and literature in which the representation of reality is distorted to communicate inner feelings.
Expressionist Theatre
It was a first cousin to symbolism, and it had well-defined characteristics. Expressionist plays are highly subjective:
The protagonist seems distorted or dreamlike.
It is often opposed to society and the family.
The protagonist journeys through a series of incidents that usually are not causally related.
It is structured as station dramas. (the role and Christ)
The characters are representative types rather than names.
The language is telegraphic and short lines.
3. Nine episodes and theme
In 1928, when Sophie Treadwell read the New York Daily News, and saw a front-page photograph of Ruth Snyder mid-electrocution under the headline "DEAD!", she felt concern that the woman’s fate was lost in the sensationalism. She wrote Machinal in nine episodes, and each one represents an emotional semiotics, as well as expresses a human mood.
This play describes the fate of a young women. Women belong to half the power of the world. However, when we read Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, we sympathize with Anna for committing suicide for love; while we read Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Nora Helmer, we worry about what will happen to her after she runs away from home and lost love. Now, Treadwell’s YOUNG WOMAN is suffering in the same situation, seeing the photograph of her sitting in the electric chair, in addition to deep feelings of sympathy, we also think more about questions of how to be a woman, and how to oppose male chauvinism and social oppression.