Polk County itemizer observer., November 09, 2016, Page 13A, Image 13

Polk County Education
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 9, 2016 13A
Play provides stylized, insightful story
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — How
does life get so awful that it
feels like the only reasonable
choice is murder?
Yo u n g Wo m a n , a l s o
known as Helen Jones, has
been oppressed her whole
life — by her mother, her
coworkers, doctors, nurses,
her husband — and reach-
es a breaking point that ul-
timately will cost her her
ow n l i f e i n t h e p l a y,
“Machinal,” by Sophie
Treadwell.
The play opens Thursday
at 7:30 p.m. at Western Ore-
gon University. The cast of
14 weave the tale of Helen
Jones and her torrid affair
with Richard Roe, reinvent-
ing the true story of Ruth
Snyder.
The play is based on the
true-crime story of Snyder
after Treadwell sat in the
courtroom during Snyder’s
trial for murder.
“It’s a very stylized piece,
expressionism,” director
Michael Phillips said.
“There’s the idea of being in
an overwhelming environ-
ment that sort of oppresses
everybody, which inspired
the set.”
Meghan Doerfler, who
plays Young Woman, said
her character is basically an
average jane.
“She’s trying to fit into so-
ciety that she doesn’t fit
into,” she said. “And it’s con-
stantly oppressing her. She’s
trying to find some way to
survive in that type of socie-
ty, and eventually she just
can’t anymore.”
Everything the woman
does to fit in works against
her, Doerfler said.
“So she does the one
thing she thinks she can do
to be free, and that ultimate-
ly ends up being just an
awful decision,” she said.
In some ways, Doerfler
can relate to her character’s
feeling of oppression be-
cause she’s a woman.
“The situation is much
more drastic than it is now,
but there’s still a lot of in-
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Meghan Doerfler, center, plays Young Woman in “Machinal.” The Western Oregon University production begins Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
stances that I can relate to
it,” she said. “There are in-
stances where people are
going to be like, ‘Oh my god,
I see that in my everyday life,
too,’ or, ‘I witness that still,’
and that’s why the play is
still relevant.”
In other ways, the charac-
ter’s plight is so heightened,
Doerfler has to dig deep to
find things to substitute for
what she’s feeling.
“Like, she marries a per-
fectly nice guy,” she said.
“Who she absolutely detests,
and she doesn’t know why,
and that’s one of her biggest
frustrations.”
While her husband is not
terrible, the Young Woman
reacts to him like he’s the
most disgusting human
being, Doerfler said.
“But he’s just a product of
the society, and society is
disgusting,” she said.
Doerfler said it won’t be
Machinal
What: Western Oregon University Department of Theater
presents, “Machinal,” by Sophie Treadwell.
When: Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday,
and again Nov. 16 through 19, with a 2 p.m. showing on
Sunday, Nov. 13.
Where: Rice Auditorium, WOU campus.
Admission: General admission, $14; seniors, and WOU
faculty and staff, $10; students $8.
Of note: Shows will be translated into American Sign
Language on Nov. 11 and 18.
just women who relate to
the play.
Gabriel Elmore plays the
Lover — characters in the
play are not referred to by
name, just by titles. Phillips
said that allows the play to
be bigger than just one per-
son.
Elmore said his character
is the “muse … that really
coaxes the Young Woman
out of this routine, mun-
dane existence that she’s
adjusted to with the rest of
society.”
The expressionist style of
the play has been challeng-
ing for the actors, who are
trained in more realistic
acting, but Elmore said one
of the things that makes his
role different is his scenes
are more naturalistic.
“His scenes are the only
ones that feel like normal,
and intentionally so,” El-
more said.
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
“Machinal” is based on the true-crime story of Ruth Snyder.
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