Quote from Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie"

Tom: 

You know it don't take much intelligence to get yourself into a nailed-up coffin, Laura. But who in hell ever got himself out of one without removing one nail?

A Gentleman's Guide to Attending the Theatre

Last evening at the theater, a woman in front of me took a pint out of her purse, took a swig and then proceeded to nod off. Later, awaken by her own snores, she once again took the bottle out of her purse and finished what remained in the it. She then slept through the rest of the intermission less performance. 

As a regular theatergoer, I see all sorts of madness and distractions in the audience. But I shan't whine because there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. Instead I will simply smile as I read A Gentleman's Guide to Attending the Theatre.

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Peeves

Sophie Treadwell's "Machinal" - A 1920s Play About a Modern Woman

The Roundabout's Machinal has been lingering with me since I saw an early preview at the American Airlines Theatre. The production did not operate like a well-oiled machine during the preview (I'm sure they will work everything out before it opens later this month); but it sure left an impression on me. Therefore, as I was stuck indoors on a cold wintry January Sunday, I forewent watching the addictive line up on Investigation Discovery (ID) - you know, Wives with Knives, I'd Kill For You, Scorned: Love Kills - and read the 1928 expressionistic play written by journalist and playwright Sophie Treadwell. 

The 1927 trial of Ruth Brown Snyder is the inspiration for the play. After being found guilty for killing her husband (surprise, for insurance money), Queens Village housewife Ruth Snyder became the second woman executed by electric chair in NY State. The execution was surreptitiously photographed and famously splattered on the cover of the NY Daily News.

The ID network pretty much rehashes treacherous crime events. Machinal (the French term for mechanical or automatic) though digs deeper and explores what would drive a 1920s modern woman to commit such a crime. On the first page of the play, Treadwell sums up the nine-episode play when she writes:

The woman is essentially soft, tender, and the life around her is essentially hard, mechanized. Business, home, marriage, having a child, seeking pleasure - all are difficult for her - mechanical, nerve nagging. Only in an illicit love does she find anything with life in it for her, and when she loses this, this desperate effort to win free to it again is her undoing. 

There are a few parts of this play that may make you cringe today (it was written in the 1920s after all). For example, the efficient office stenographer is described as faded, dried and drying, the telephone girl is cheap, the middle aged gay man is a fairy preying on a young boy in a Hell's Kitchen speakeasy, Mexicans are referred to as sp*gs and an unseen black inmate is casually called a n*gger. But there is so much more to this play and many of its themes still resonate today...submitting to the mundaneness of life (including office life)...getting into and remaining in a marriage or relationship for convenience instead of love... postpartum depression, which by the way is simply dismissed by the young woman's doctor as neuroticism in episode four entitled "maternal"...and the subjectivity of the press when two reporters have completely different spins on the same court proceedings in episode eight entitled "the law". 

I am so happy that Roundabout resurrected and introduced me to this play...I appreciate their ambitious staging and hope that it does well. In the meantime, I am adding Machinal to my bookshelf!

Quote From Sophie Treadwell's "Machinal"

Young Woman from Machinal:

- late - subway - air - pressing - bodies pressing - bodies - trembling - air - stop - air - late - job - no job - fired - late - alarm clock - alarm clock - alarm clock - hurry - job - ma - nag - nag - nag - ma - hurry - job - no job - no money - installments due - no money - money - George H. Jones - money - Mrs. George H. Jones - money - no work - no worry - free! - rest - sleep till nine - sleep till ten - sleep till noon - now you take a good rest this morning - don't get up till you want to - thank you - oh thank you - oh don't - please don't touch me - I want to rest - no rest - earn - got to earn - married - earn - no - yes - earn - all girls - most girls - ma - pa - ma - all women - most women - I can't - must - maybe - must - somebody - something - ma - pa - ma - can't I, ma? Tell me, ma - something - somebody.

2013 at the Theater

Broadway Shows That Opened in 2013

 If 2012 was the year of Chekhov, then 2013 was definitely the year of Shakespeare. There were so many Shakespearean productions on the NYC stage, I lost track after Macbeth opened on Broadway for the second time. 

Broadway 
Putting Shakespeare aside though, I had many wonderful moments at the theater in 2013.  On Broadway, it was an absolute pleasure to see Cicely Tyson in Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful. I don't know if this is it for the octogenarian actress, but if so, I am deeply satisfied after her touching performance. The clever Vanya Sonia Masha and Spike made me laugh when I needed to laugh, and After Midnight was absolutely swinging. 

If my schedule...(moreso) if my budget allows, I look forward to seeing Twelfth Night, The Glass Menagerie and A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Marriage soon. After these productions hit multiple 2013 top 10 lists, I would be remiss not to experience them.    

Random Happenings - December 2013

Speeding MetroNorth train derails killing four and injuring others. Rhode Island stops collecting tax on original art. NY Magazine announces it will publish biweekly in 2014. Billy Joel takes up residency at MSG. First studio backlot opens in NYC. Broadway has best Thanksgiving week ever...and NYC tourism hits all time high. Pieces of London Apollo theatre collapse wounding many. 100th anniversary of the crossword puzzle. 34 year old Tony nominee leaves Motown Musical after ovarian cancer diagnosis. Lion King is 2013's highest grossing Broadway show. The world prepares for a new year...