Machinal (NHB Modern Plays)

The city. A woman is restless. A woman is suffocating. A woman is silenced. The woman revolts. A visceral expressionist masterpiece, Sophie Treadwell's play Machinal was first seen on Broadway in 1928, London in 1930, and was later revived in the 1990s. This edition was published alongside the 2018 production at the Almeida Theatre, London, directed by Natalie Abrahami. 'gripping... doesn't loosen its hold on the senses until its shattering climax' - Independent 'stingingly fresh and provocative' - Time Out New York '[a work of] rare and disturbing beauty' - New York Times

Sophie Treadwell was born in California in 1885. She went to High School in San Francisco and then to the University of California, from which she graduated in 1906 and became a reporter on the San Francisco Bulletin. The highlights of her career as a journalist included an investigative series on homeless women, an exclusive interview with Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, and a spell in Europe as one of the first women foreign correspondents covering the 1914-18 War. She wrote four novels and more than thirty plays, including O Nightingale (1922), Gringo (1922), Machinal (1928), Ladies Leave (1929), Lusita (1931), Plumes in the Dust (1936), For Saxophone (1939-41) and Hope for a Harvest (1941), after which she gave up writing for the stage. She died in 1970.