MACHINAL
WRITTEN BY SOPHIE TREADWELL
The play is inspired by the real life case of Ruth Snyder, a woman who murder her husband with her lover. She was sentenced to face the electric chair, and a photo secretly taken of her in the chair became highly publicised. The play follows themes of the capitalist machine, forced marriage, freedom to love, and a woman’s role. For this conceptual design I set it in New York and locations within Harlem in the 1920s, as I was highly influenced by the Harlem Renaissance art movement. I drew particular inspiration from artists such as William H Johnson, Jacob Lawrence, and Arran Douglas.
Conceptual set and costume design (RWCMD) Directed by Patrick Connellan and Tara Turner
DESIGN PROCESS
collage type initial mood board and research as well as stuff for the set (world building)
