{"id":159989,"date":"2026-02-18T16:28:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159989\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T16:28:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:28:53","slug":"usfs-rendition-of-machinal-proves-theater-is-thriving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159989\/","title":{"rendered":"USF\u2019s rendition of \u2018Machinal\u2019 proves theater is thriving"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>USF\u2019s Theatre department did the century-old play justice this weekend. ORACLE PHOTO\/VIOLET VASQUEZ<\/p>\n

So many people were excited for USF Theatre and Dance\u2019s new production of Machinal<\/a> that I had to change my plans in order to see it.<\/p>\n

I initially planned to attend the premiere \u2014 Thursday at 7:30 p.m. \u2014 but every seat had already been reserved.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s showing was also sold out, so I had to settle for Saturday. I was okay with this, though, because the play sounded promising.<\/p>\n

Machinal, written by American playwright and journalist Sophie Treadwell, premiered in 1928, according to Playbill<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This play received unanimous critical acclaim and is recognized as one of the greatest plays of all time by outlets including Entertainment Weekly<\/a>, The Independent<\/a> and BroadwayWorld<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The plot follows a young woman named Helen in 1920s America whose life ends in tragedy after she listens to society\u2019s rules for success, according to a blurb on USF Theatre\u2019s Current Season<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

Suffice to say, the main question on my mind as I shuffled into the Theatre 2 building on Saturday night was if USF Theatre could successfully honor the play\u2019s almost legendary legacy.<\/p>\n

After watching the play \u2014 and being so impressed I had to return on Sunday \u2014\u00a0 I can say with confidence that USF honored Machinal\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: Why you should support the arts at USF<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

My first thought upon leaving Machinal was how relevant the play feels to our current decade, despite it being almost a century old.<\/p>\n

The main conflict stems from Helen feeling trapped by the hostile and misogynistic society she\u2019s a part of.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s pressured into a loveless marriage with her oafish and abusive boss and desperately longs to be, in her own words, \u201cfree.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are feelings I\u2019m sure many young viewers of the play can resonate with.<\/p>\n

Dora Arreola, the director of Machinal and a theatre professor at USF, said she agrees the play speaks to the current moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it has a very powerful message for young people \u2014 to [attain] self-determination, identity, to be who they want to be and to be with who they want to be with,\u201d Arreola said.<\/p>\n

At the heart of Machinal is senior theater performance major Katelyn Pingor, who stars as Helen.<\/p>\n

Pingor brings a heightened sense of emotional intensity to her character that contrasts perfectly with the cold and mechanical environment that surrounds her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe clear expression of [Helen\u2019s] emotions was really interesting to me,\u201d Pingor said.<\/p>\n

Pingor reveals those emotions through a series of frantic, stream-of-consciousness monologues in which she maneuvers, almost rhythmically, between catharsis, hopelessness and anger.<\/p>\n

Pingor said that memorizing these monologues proved challenging.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would give someone else the script and they would sit with me in the lobby for sometimes hours at a time [as I rehearsed].\u201d<\/p>\n

But she added that the process became much more natural as rehearsals continued.<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: USF\u2019s music scene is the lifeblood of the campus<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

And that definitely comes through in the final performance \u2014 Pingor is utterly transfixing and it becomes impossible to imagine that this is an actress reading memorized lines.<\/p>\n

Something that surprised me was the prevalence of dance throughout the play, as several scenes are entirely based around an ensemble cast wordlessly performing choreography.<\/p>\n

These numbers were incredibly entertaining to watch and some of my favorite moments from the play.<\/p>\n

And the numbers were actually choreographed by the cast themselves, in a process that Arreola described as very collaborative.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody was adding stuff and bringing ideas and it was very dynamic,\u201d Arreola said. \u201cI really love the process and all the students that I have here.\u201d<\/p>\n

But just as important to the play as the acting is the stage design.<\/p>\n

Machinal is an expressionist play, which means it uses \u201clights to convey emotion in the theatre,\u201d according to its playbill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lighting is manipulated for dramatic effect several times, but I found the climax the most effective.<\/p>\n

Helen reaches a breaking point as a result of the abuse she\u2019s suffered and impulsively murders her husband late at night.<\/p>\n

As if reacting to her turmoil, the stage lights rapidly flash through iridescent neon colors, an effect that almost made me feel like I was at a modern rave or concert.<\/p>\n

The lighting works despite clashing with the period and makes the scene the play\u2019s most visually striking moment.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the \u201ctragic ending\u201d promised on USF\u2019s website <\/a>comes to fruition and Helen is caught and executed for her crime.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an intentionally frustrating, unsatisfying conclusion that leaves much room for viewer interpretation.<\/p>\n

I left Theatre 2 with a deep pit in my stomach and countless unresolved thoughts circling my mind.<\/p>\n

But I don\u2019t mean this as a criticism \u2014 these feelings are what all good art should inspire.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like that it doesn\u2019t have a great ending,\u201d Pingor said. \u201cI just hope it kind of sits with audience members as they leave and gives them a new perspective or provides something to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Machinal has finished its run, USF Theatre has several more shows planned for the semester \u2014 including a production of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, according to the department\u2019s<\/a> webpage.<\/p>\n

Related: USF to host theater festival in honor of female empowerment<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

So if you couldn\u2019t make it to Machinal, support USF\u2019s theatre scene by adding one of the upcoming shows to your calendar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunity to see a transformation [of a character] on stage is an inspiration to transform ourselves, to be a better community, to be a better world,\u201d Arreola said.<\/p>\n

And Pingor said she agrees that supporting theatre at USF is important.<\/p>\n

\u201c[USF Theatre] is such a good space with people who care so much about what they\u2019re doing, and I think that\u2019s what makes it so important to me,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone is always really excited for whatever they\u2019re working on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Theatre \u2014 and the arts \u2014 are alive and well at USF, and I couldn\u2019t be more glad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"USF\u2019s Theatre department did the century-old play justice this weekend. ORACLE PHOTO\/VIOLET VASQUEZ So many people were excited…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-159989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}