Machinal

November 3-4, 2023

A photographer in 1920 went viral after taking the photo of a young woman in an electric chair right as she died. The photo was taken by Paul Gillespie, and the journalist covering the event, Sophie Treadwell, then proceeded to write a play called “Machinal,” about the struggles of Ruth Synder’s sexual assault that eventually led to her husband’s murder and Synder’s own death from the electric chair. For her senior thesis, Julia Stanley, class of 2024, created a production inspired by these events to the stage. However, it was not an exact retelling. In it, Stanley played Helen Jones, who was based on a real woman victimized by the lack of mental health and trauma therapies in the 1920s that still presented challenges to this day. The event was located in Decker and took place at 7:30 p.m. November 3rd and 4th, Friday and Saturday. Some of the cast included Julia Stanely as Helen Jones, James Fordi as George H. Jones, and Sam Steptoe as Richard Roe.

Photos Courtesy of Julia Stanley ‘24

Coverage by:

Iris Scherr ‘25