Content warning [May contain spoilers]

Helen is Helen is Helen. Until she is not Helen; she is Mrs X, or Y, or Z. And she does or does not have a job at the company. Helen is married is a wife is a widow; Helen is every role a woman can be, but is also none. Now Helen is on trial. But why? Has she not been a good girl? Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal is reimagined in a present parallel to our own, but with scary similarities.

Behind every great man is at least one woman carrying him on her shoulder. If she moves, he will fall – but isn’t that better, anyway? And what if she has something more important to do? After all, there is something about that bird cage… Susan Glaspell’s Trifles explores how people can take justice into their own hands.

In this double bill, emotions and the systems which govern them are laid bare. Resist as the protagonists do, the question remains: which way will the cards fall?

This production is suitable for ages 16 and over.

An amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books.
Machinal by Sophie Treadwell, abridgements by Jerry Dickey.
Trifles by Susan Glaspell.