Machinal
Premiering at the Minnesota Fringe Festival
Machinal
1420 S. Washington Ave. Minneapolis
The Southern Theater
Fri, Aug 7 — 5:30pm
Sat, Aug 8 — 7pm, BFF
Mon, Aug 10 — 10pm, BFF
Wed, Aug 12 — 8:30pm
Sun, Aug 16 — 4pm
BFF: Bring a Friend for Free
St. Croix Festival Theatre
Franklin Square Black Box
125 N Washington St, St Croix Falls, WI
Thu, Aug 20 — 7:30pm
Sat, Aug 22 — 7:30pm
Sun, Aug 23 — 2pm
This reimagined 1928 expressionistic play is about a woman trapped in a mechanized society that dictates how women should live and breathe. Her only escape is an act of murder. Full of surprising twists and turns, this production of Machinal will leave you wondering, “Can women truly escape a society built to keep them in?”
Sophie Treadwell was a journalist covering the media circus that would become the impetus for the play — the trial and execution of Ruth Snyder. At a time when most women had no choices, we’re lucky Ms Treadwell chose to tell this story, one that we still recognize today. The play opened on Broadway within a year of the events that inspired it.
Renee Hatton is a long-time member of Combustible Company. We’re proud to announce that she chose this as her directorial debut!
We’d like to share a new site with every play that’s playing.
We use the actor’s physicality to create visceral performances that spark the imagination and ignite conversation.
By drawing upon the imaginative and expressive power of the actor’s body we seek to explore the human psyche to create performances that allow audiences to derive new meaning from spoken and unspoken language.
We seek to tell universal human stories by innovative means to spark the imagination and help audiences better understand themselves and the world around them.
Remembering a play about remembering
An Iliad by Lisa Peterson
and Denis O’Hare
September 2025 — The Southern Theater
Directed by Kym Longhi, with Nick Miller as The Muse and Erik Hoover in a tour de force performance as The Poet. An Iliad is a modern-day retelling of Homer’s classic. Poetry and humor, the ancient tale of the Trojan War and the modern world collide in this captivating theatrical experience. The setting is simple: the empty theater. The time is now: the present moment. The lone figure onstage is a storyteller—possibly Homer, possibly one of the many bards who followed in his footsteps. He is fated to tell this story throughout history.
“An enthralling theatrical experience, unique and classical at the same time.”
— John Townsend