Cabrillo College's theater department is staging one of the key American plays of the 1920s, and it's getting strong reviews.
The play
Sophie Treadwell wrote "Machinal" in 1928. A journalist as well as a playwright, she based it loosely on the Ruth Snyder murder case. It is a major work of American Expressionism, with fragmented, repetitive dialogue and mechanical movement, and it follows a young woman trapped by the expectations placed on her.
The production
Lookout Santa Cruz critic Jana Marcus called it a "visually breathtaking production." Robin Aronson directs. Skip Epperson's set turns the large Crocker Theater stage into an industrial world where people seem like cogs in a machine. Marcus singled out Sarah Mitchler's performance in the lead as sensational.
If you go
Cabrillo's Visual, Applied and Performing Arts calendar lists performances through Nov. 15, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., at Crocker Theater on the Cabrillo campus, 6500 Soquel Drive in Aptos. Tickets are sold through the college's VAPA box office. Cabrillo says parking in Lot L is free during events.
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