Asolo Conservatory's 'Machinal' offers thoughtful, timely play
Do you hear the hum of the world, and does it drive you to do unspeakable things?
The thrum of the constant din of machinery and motion and background noise that is our world is the constant in "Machinal," the latest performance by the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training at the FSU Center for Performing Arts in Sarasota.
Helen (Kim Hausler) is literally breathless within her complicated world. She’s a stenographer. Boss George H. Jones (Danny Jones) wants to marry her. Helen and her mom (Lindsay Bytof) debate the aspects of marriage without love, but the matter is moot because, after all, a woman has to marry, doesn’t she?
The loveless relationship causes Helen to flinch at the mere touch of husband George. Their daughter is of profound joy for him. Her birth produces near catatonia for her.
Helen finds love with Dick Roe (Dane Dandrige Clark). It is fleeting, unfortunately, and comes back to haunt her and ultimately … well, go see the show to find the ending.
Kim Hausler as Helen Jones and Dane Clark as Dick Roe share a moment in the Asolo Conservatory production of "Machinal." Photo by Frank Atura.
"Machinal" isn’t a funny, happy performance. It will make you think and wonder at the noise that’s out there as a backdrop to our world. What’s that sound doing to us?
Playwright Sophie Treadwell wrote the play in 1928. Asolo conservatory director Dmitry Troyanovsky adapted the script from what he called her obsession of "polluting smoke stacks, mechanized noises, radio announcements, loud jazz, automaton-like behavior and unforgiving collisions of ever-harried ubanites" into today’s "incessant buzzing of fluorescent lights and eerie humming of computer cables, sanitized office cubicles and eco-friendly supermarket aisles."
Hausler’s performance as Helen is stunning. She provides the look of a deer that eventually transformed into a lion in a relationship that was fated for failure.
Danny Jones portrays the ham-handed hubby with aplomb. You like him, but there’s something just a bit amiss in his character. Don’t miss the "oops" scene with his daughter.
Clark as the "friend" is a treat, offering just the right amount of sincerity/insincerity to make his role perfect. He also provides the crucial prop for the performance.
The production, without an intermission, is offered in nine episodes. There is a possible play-stealer within the courtroom section, thanks to antics of defense attorney Adam Carpenter and willful persecution … uh, prosecution … of Devereau Chumrau.
Rick Cannon again proves he can do much with little when it comes to set design. Projection designer Aaron Bollinger offers a wonderful palette of mini-intermissions with his projections of Helen and Jones "up-close."
Don’t expect to come away from "Machinal" laughing, but do expect to leave the theatre thoughtful about our automatic lives.