Shuwei Ren

The play Machinal was written in 1928. Sophie Treadwell attempts to reveal the social issues of the 1920s by describing the experience of a young woman through her marriage to her death. The story is timeless. When I was reading Machinal, the world that I imagined was an abstract future world but described by the 1920s. Thus, my initial idea for the set design is to focus on expressing the emotions of young women and the contrast between the women and the mechanical world of the play. I consider the word “Machinal” as a symbol of society's excessive pursuit of material things and that men dominate the world. This leads to an indifference to human relations, resulting in obedience to society, with the features of machines: cold and repetitive. I think the machine is a metaphor to describe people's behaviours and thoughts.

The focus of this set design is space and themed coloured lighting to present the "machine" world. I was considering the stage as the emotional room of the young woman; the young woman is in control of the pace of play. The two revolving coloured walls dominate the area, through expanding and narrowing the space to describe the transitions; combining coloured-lighting and painted walls to strengthen the contrast and emphasise young woman's changes. At the same time, presenting the play as a series of episodes. The grey coloured cubic featured furniture and the white grid floor represent the discipline and strictness of the machine world.