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Post Theatre Company: Machinal

By Ruhi Gandhi
Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor

Sophie Treadwell’s “Machinal” is one of her best-known works, that appeared on Broadway between 1922-1941, and is considered by many as the finest example for American Expressionism. The Post Theatre Company will be performing “Machinal,” one of Treadwell’s best known plays, at the Little Theatre, Mainstage on February 17-18 and February 23-25 at 8p.m. and on February 19 and 26 at 3p.m. Screen Shot 2017-02-21 at 6.50.31 PM

The cast includes Gabe Amato, Emily Banks, Tanner Bolin, Jaeda Blair, Justin Dickenson, Ervin Gonzales, Nicole Harley, Tyler Stettler, Olivia Lodge, Summer Warwick, Gabrielle McAree, Audrey Ney, Brady C. Ness, and Christine Mackerer.

Theater critic Ben Brantley spoke about the Broadway play in a New York Times review on January 16, 2014 “Sophie Treadwell’s fascinating play from 1928 about one woman’s captivity in a hell called New York City.” He described Treadwell to be a prolific and successful playwright and journalist but Machinal is one of the works for which Treadwell is known today, calling it a “rare and disturbing beauty.”

Brantley also wrote, “Its plot was inspired by the story of Ruth Snyder, a Long Island housewife who murdered her husband and died in the electric chair at Sing Sing. Yet there’s nothing tabloid about the play’s style.” “On the contrary, “Machinal” is a jagged symphony of voices, in which speech itself sounds as if it had come off a mass-production assembly line, spoken by people disconnected from their own words.”

“The show constantly reminds me of the inequality in our country, whether it be 1920 or 2017,” Gabriel Amato, a junior musical theatre major who is acting in the play, said.

Tickets for the show are available at www.tix55.com by searching for “PTC”.
For further information, contact the Post Theatre Company at Post-PTC@liu.edu or 516-299-2356.

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