What you need to know
Running Time
One hour 50 minutes, without an intervalContent Guidance
Suitable for ages 14+
This production contains adult themes and the use of strobe lighting.
About the show
‘How can that be? A great sin — a mortal sin — for which I must die and go to hell — but it made me free! One moment I was free!’
From the outside, Helen Jones and her husband had a ‘happy marriage’. Until she murdered him.
Based on the true crime story of Ruth Snyder in 1928 that shook a nation, Sophie Treadwell’s seminal Machinal — one of the set texts for Pearson’s Drama and Theatre A-Level — is a pulse-pounding journey of someone pushed to breaking point by the relentless machinery of life, expectation and convention.
Available for schools, colleges and academic institutions in the UK only, Machinal for Schools captures the 2024 London premiere of Richard Jones’ production at The Old Vic, transferred from the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath.
A Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath production in association with The Old Vic
Presented by arrangement with Nick Hern Books
FAQs
How will you be streaming this?
The film will be available until summer 2027 via Vimeo (accessed through your web browser) which means you will be able to watch on a tablet or computer. If you want to link this up to a television screen you will need a HDMI cable.
How will it work?
You will receive an email to confirm your registration once you have completed the registration form to request access. It’s important you check you’ve received this, so we can be sure we have the correct email address. Please note, it may take up to two weeks to process your registration.
Once your registration has been processed, you will receive an email with the Vimeo links and information on how to watch. Even though this performance is pre-recorded, it will only be available during the specified period.
Only UK-based schools, colleges and academic institutions may register. If your school is based outside of the UK, unfortunately you will not be able to access the film.
For any queries or changes to your registration, or for assistance in completing the registration form, please contact our Box Office team at box.office@oldvictheatre.com or call 0344 871 7628
Will the recording be captioned?
Open captioning has been provided by StageText. There will be an alternative Vimeo link shared to access the captioned version of the recording.
What resources are available for schools?
You can download the Machinal teaching resource pack. This document includes interviews with the cast and creative team, video resources, contextual information and classroom exercises.
Rosie Sheehy
Rosie Sheehy
Theatre includes: The Hairy Ape, The Brightening Air (The Old Vic); Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Oleanna (West End/Theatre Royal Bath); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, All’s Well That Ends Well, Richard III, King John (RSC); Romeo and Julie (National Theatre); The Wolves (Stratford East); The Whale (Theatre Royal Bath); Uncle Vanya — Wales Theatre Award for Best Female Performance in the English language (Theatr Clwyd, Mold/Sheffield Theatres); Bird (Royal Exchange, Manchester); The Second Maiden’s Tragedy (Shakespeare’s Globe). Television includes: Chernobyl, The Red King, Steeltown Murders, Wild Bill. Film includes: Pillion, A Violent Man.
Daniel Abelson
Daniel Abelson
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Circa (Old Red Lion Theatre); The Rivals (The Watermill Theatre); William Wordsworth (Theatre by the Lake); Once in a Lifetime (Young Vic); The Mighty Waltzer (Royal Exchange, Manchester); Me, As A Penguin (Arcola); Country Magic (Finborough); Goodbye My Love (Southwark Playhouse); Macbeth (Leeds Playhouse); Shadow of a Gunman (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow); 5/11, King Lear, The Government Inspector, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Seven Doors, Thermidor, The Seagull, Holes in the Skin (Chichester). Television includes: Jonathan Pie’s American Pie, Humans, Law & Order UK, Coronation Street, EastEnders, Doctors, The Royal Today, Robin Hood. Film includes: The Rack Pack.
Sam Alexander
Sam Alexander
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); The Homecoming, Lady in the Van, Racing Demon (Theatre Royal Bath); Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary! (Jermyn Street Theatre); One Last Push, How The Other Half Loves (Salisbury Playhouse); The Watsons, Hay Fever (Chichester); Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Christmas Truce (RSC); One Man, Two Guvnors (National Theatre); A Comedy Of Errors (Shakespeare’s Globe); No Naughty Bits, Lawrence After Arabia (Hampstead). Television includes: Say Nothing, The Jury: Murder Retrial, The English, Hard Sun, Call the Midwife, Doc Martin, Wolf Hall, Criminal Justice, Quick Cuts, Hamlet. Film includes: Misbehaviour, Mogul Mowgli, 45 Years, An American Haunting.
Christian Alifoe
Christian Alifoe
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic); Sucker Punch (UK tour). Television includes: Brave New World, Man vs. Bee.
Steven Beard
Steven Beard
Theatre: A Flea in her Ear, The Illusion (The Old Vic); Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Racing Demon, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (National Theatre); Nathan the Wise, The Seagull, Seven Doors, Scapino (Chichester); The Crucible (Leeds Playhouse); Uncle Vanya, The Winter’s Tale, The Bald Prima Donna, The Breasts of Tiresias, The Park (Sheffield Theatres); Minetti (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh); The Trial, The Good Person of Szechuan, The Government Inspector (Young Vic); The Tempest (The Coronet Theatre); If So, Then Yes (Jermyn Street Theatre); Giant (Britten Studio); The Skating Rink (Garsington Opera). Film: Anna Karenina, The Remains of the Day, Shakespeare in Love.
Daniel Bowerbank
Daniel Bowerbank
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare’s Globe). Television includes: Masterclass: Cynthia Erivo. Film includes: We Live in Time.
Imogen Daines
Imogen Daines
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Shakespeare in Love (UK tour); Coram Boy (National Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (New Wolsley); Hamlet (European tour); The Wars of the Roses (Rose Theatre, Kingston); Playing For Time (Sheffield Theatres); Merlin (Royal & Derngate, Northampton). Television includes: Endeavour, The Suspect, Killing Eve, Atlanta, Intergalactic, The Witcher, Black Mirror, Chasing Shadows, Quick Cuts. Film includes: On Chesil Beach, Despite the Falling Snow.
Buffy Davis
Buffy Davis
Theatre includes: The Hairy Ape, The Divide, Hedda Gabler (The Old Vic); Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Ravens: Spassky vs Fischer (Hampstead); Once in a Lifetime, Government Inspector, Annie Get Your Gun (Young Vic); Uncle Vanya; The Silver Lake, Beggars Opera (Wilton’s Music Hall); School for Scandal (Park Theatre); Ugly Lies the Bone, The Rose Tattoo, Sunday in the Park with George (National Theatre). Television includes: Signora Volpe, Best Interests, The Outlaws, Life, Doc Martin, The Night Manager, Silk, She’s Out. Film includes: Angel Has Fallen, Hyde Park on Hudson, Anna Karenina, The Machinist, Til Death, The Company. Radio Includes: The Archers.
Steven Dykes
Steven Dykes
Theatre includes: Machinal, Pygmalion (The Old Vic); Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads (Chichester); The Spoils (Arcola); Safety (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh); Richard III (Pleasance, London/European tour); (Uncle) Vanya (Wresting School/European tour); Victory, The Castle, Scenes from An Execution, Arcadia, Serious Money (Atlantic Theatre Stage II, New York). Television includes: Casualty, EastEnders, Judge John Deed, Dalziel & Pascoe, Emmerdale, In Deep, This Is Personal. Film includes: Here.
Tim Frances
Tim Frances
Theatre includes: Arcadia (The Old Vic), Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Witness for the Prosecution, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The 39 Steps, A Man for All Seasons, An Inspector Calls (West End); Roman Holiday (Theatre Royal Bath); Never So Good, Marat/Sade (National Theatre); The Sound of Music (Regent’s Park Open Air); The Woman in the Moon, Anne Boleyn, Eternal Love (Shakespeare’s Globe); The Taxidermist’s Daughter, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (Chichester); King Lear (Leeds Playhouse). Television includes: Emmerdale, Sister Boniface Mysteries, The Trial of Christine Keeler, Four Lives, Big School. Film includes: Cromwell: Warts and All, Othello, Gangsta Granny.
Carla Harrison-Hodge
Carla Harrison-Hodge
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Cyrano de Bergerac (West End/Brooklyn Academy of Music); The Shape of Things (Park Theatre); Amadeus (National Theatre); The Fruit Trilogy (Southbank Centre/Leeds Playhouse); Constellations (Stephen Joseph Theatre); The Boyband (Pleasance); Sweatin’ it out (Stratford East); Can’t Stand up for Falling Down (Lantern Theatre). Television includes: Year of the Rabbit, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Fresh Meat, Cuffs, Doctors. Film includes: JOY.
Emilio Iannucci
Emilio Iannucci
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Old Bridge (Bush); Constellations (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough); Supernova (Theatre 503); Around the World in 80 Days, Hello and Goodbye, The Book of Dragons (York Theatre Royal); Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Rose Theatre, York); Peter Pan (Mercury Theatre, Colchester); The Snow Dragon (UK tour). Television includes: Traitors. Film includes: Death of Stalin.
Jane MacFarlane
Jane MacFarlane
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic); Home, I’m Darling (West End/National Theatre); Mary Stuart (West End/Almeida); Miss Julie (West End); Exit the King (National Theatre); Much Ado About Nothing, Merry Wives of Windsor, Camino Real, Troilus and Cressida, A Month in the Country (RSC); The Trick is to Keep Breathing, Macbeth, Good (Tron Theatre, Glasgow). Television includes: Outlander. Film includes: Christmas in Scotland, The Ministry of Enigmatic Affairs, The Exorcism of Karen Walker.
Caroline Moroney
Caroline Moroney
Theatre includes: Machinal, Pygmalion (The Old Vic); Civilisation (Zoo Southside, Edinburgh); Persuasion (Rose Theatre, Kingston/Alexandra Palace/Oxford Playhouse/Royal Exchange, Manchester); Much Ado About Nothing (Queen Mary 2); Science, Penelope Skinner (RADA Studios); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oxford tour); A Subject of Scandal and Concern (Finborough).
Pierro Niel-Mee
Pierro Niel-Mee
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); The Tempest, View From the Bridge (Theatre Royal Bath); Wolf Hall, Hypocrite, Imperium Parts 1 & 2 (RSC); Shakespeare in Love, Kenny Morgan (Arcola); Wendy and Peter Pan (Leeds Playhouse); Once Upon A Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia (Almeida); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park Open Air); Ghosts (Royal & Derngate, Northampton). Television includes: Slow Horses, Harlots, Andor. Film includes: Death of a Farmer, City of Life.
Wendy Nottingham
Wendy Nottingham
Theatre includes: The Winslow Boy (The Old Vic); Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Abigail’s Party (Hampstead/West End); Notes from a Small Island, The Importance of Being Earnest (The Watermill Theatre); Time and Tide (Park Theatre); Fen (Finborough); In Basildon, The York Realist, Ambulance (Royal Court); Cloud 9 (Sheffield Theatres); Grief, The Shaughraun (National Theatre); It’s A Great Big Shame! (Stratford East). Television includes: Shakespeare & Hathaway, Peaky Blinders, Spooks, Mr. Selfridge, Housewife 49, The Crimson Petal and the White. Film includes: Asteroid City, Good Boy, Ammonite, The Last Letter from Your Lover, Notes on a Scandal, Babel, Farming, Topsy-Turvy, Vera Drake.
Richard Jones
Richard Jones
Theatre includes: Pygmalion, Endgame, Too Clever by Half – Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer, The Illusion — Evening Standard Award for Best Director (The Old Vic); Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); The Hairy Ape (The Old Vic/Park Avenue Armory, New York); Into the Woods — Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival (West End); Twilight Zone (Almeida/West End); Judgement Day (New York Park Avenue Armory). Opera includes: Hansel and Gretel — Olivier Award for Best New Opera (WNO); Lady Macbeth of Mtensk — Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, Ring Cycle — Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement, Alcina, Katya Kabanova — Olivier Award for Best New Opera (ROH); The Mastersingers of Nuremberg — Olivier Award for Best New Opera, The Rhinegold — Southbank Show Award (ENO).
Hyemi Shin
Hyemi Shin
Theatre includes: The Dumb Waiter (The Old Vic); Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Dirty Butterfly, Sizwe Banzi is Dead, Once in a Lifetime (Young Vic); The Brink (Orange Tree); Dido & Aeneas (Theatre Royal Bath); The End of Eddy (Unicorn); The Seagull, Herons, Morning, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lyric Hammersmith); Solaris (Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh/Lyric Hammersmith); Wozzeck, Samson and Delila (ROH); The Skating Rink (ENO); Giant (Snape Maltings, Suffolk); La Damnation de Faust (Glyndebourne); The Return of Ulysses (ROH/Roundhouse).
Sarah Fahie
Sarah Fahie
Theatre as Movement Director and Choreographer includes: Machinal, Pygmalion, Rough For Theatre II, Endgame (The Old Vic); Alcina, La Clemenza di Tito, Frankenstein/Knoxville Summer of 1915, Katya Kabanova, La Bohème, 4.48 Psychosis, Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, The Gambler, Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica (ROH); The Rhinegold, The Valkyrie, Don Giovanni, Rodelinda (ENO); Don Giovanni (Bergen National Opera/Northern Ireland Opera); Peter Grimes (La Scala, Milan); The Trial (Young Vic); La Damnation de Faust, Der Rosenkavalier (Glyndebourne); The Skating Rink, Semele, Hänsel und Gretel (Garsington Opera); La Gioconda, Capriccio (Grange Park Opera). Film includes: Rumpelstiltskin.
Nicky Gillibrand
Nicky Gillibrand
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Billy Elliot (West End/Broadway); The Wind in the Willows (West End); Angels in America (National Theatre/Broadway); Jumpers (Broadway); Once in a Lifetime, Annie Get Your Gun, Public Enemy, The Government Inspector, Vernon God Little, The Good Soul of Szechuan (Young Vic); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC); Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. (Royal Court); Spring Awakening (Almeida); Absolute Hell, Everyman, The Seagull, A Little Night Music (National Theatre); Peter Grimes, Anna Nicole (ENO); War and Peace (Opéra Bastille, Paris); Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (La Scala, Milan); Die Zauberflote (Aix Festival). Film includes: Institute Benjamenta.
Adam Silverman
Adam Silverman
Theatre includes: Pygmalion, Endgame (The Old Vic); Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Our Class (Brooklyn Academy of Music); How to be a Dancer in Seventy-Two Thousand Easy Lessons, Mám (Teaċ Daṁsa, Ireland); Wozzeck, La Clemenza di Tito, Medusa, The Wind (ROH); Fedora, Don Carlos (Metropolitan Opera, New York); Downstate, Misterman (National Theatre); Medicine (Edinburgh Festival); Grief is the Thing with Feathers (Complicité); Blue/Orange, Hamlet (Young Vic); The Rhinegold, The Valkyrie (ENO); Five Gold Rings (Almeida).
Benjamin Grant
Benjamin Grant
Theatre as Sound Designer: Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Education, Education, Education (West End); Wildfire Road (Sheffield Theatres); A Fight Against… (Royal Court); War of the Worlds (New Diorama); The Road Awaits Us (Sadler’s Wells); Prurience (Southbank Centre); Figures in Extinction (Nederlands Dans Theater) Michael Kohlhaas (Schaubühne, Berlin). Theatre as Co-Sound Designer: Death of England: Delroy, Death of England: Face to Face, Death of England: Closing Time, Othello (National Theatre). Theatre as Sound Effects Designer: Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical (West End).
Ginny Schiller CDG
Ginny Schiller CDG
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic); The Starry Messenger, Apologia (West End); Blithe Spirit (Theatre Royal Bath/West End); 1984 (West End/UK tour/Almeida); A View from the Bridge, Noises Off, The Father (Theatre Royal Bath/West End); Bad Jews (Theatre Royal Bath/UK tour/West End); Farm Hall (Jermyn Street/Theatre Royal Bath/UK tour); Oleanna (Theatre Royal Bath/The Arts); The Other Boleyn Girl, 4000 Miles (Chichester); The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Southwark Playhouse); The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (UK tour); Once Upon A Time in Nazi-Occupied Tunisia, Richard II, The Merchant of Venice (Almeida); King Lear (Shakespeare’s Globe); A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story (Nottingham Playhouse/Alexandra Palace); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Leicester Curve/UK tour); The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide… (Hampstead); The History Cycle (RSC).
Charlie Hughes-D’Aeth
Charlie Hughes-D’Aeth
Theatre includes: Mary Page Marlowe, The Brightening Air, Oedipus, The Real Thing, The Constituent, Machinal, Just For One Day, Pygmalion, Groundhog Day, Sylvia, Eureka Day, Camp Siegfried, Lungs, A Very Expensive Poison, Present Laughter, The American Clock, A Monster Calls, Girl from the North Country, The Divide, A Christmas Carol, Woyzeck, ‘Art’, The Caretaker, The Master Builder, Future Conditional (The Old Vic); Cymbeline (Shakespeare’s Globe); When Winston Went to War with the Wireless (Donmar); What’s New Pussycat? (Birmingham Rep); Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World (UK tour); Consultant Voice Coach for Matilda the Musical (Resident 2010–14), The Gods Weep, The Tempest (RSC).
Rick Lipton
Rick Lipton
Theatre includes: Machinal, The Hairy Ape, High Society (The Old Vic); Rasheeda Speaking, Bug, Bad Jews, Hand to God (West End); Once in a Lifetime, A Streetcar Named Desire (Young Vic); Death of a Salesman (RSC); The Encounter (Barbican); The Royale (Bush); The Color Purple (Menier Chocolate Factory); Trouble in Mind (Theatre Royal Bath). Television includes: Eric, The Crowded Room, Citadel, The New Pope, The Alienist, Black Mirror: USS Callister, Containment, Intruders, Elementary. Film includes: Spider-Man: No Way Home, Cherry, The Devil All The Time, Young Woman and the Sea, 5lbs of Pressure.
Lucy Hind
Lucy Hind
Theatre as Movement Director includes: The Brightening Air, The Divide (The Old Vic); No’s Knife (The Old Vic/Abbey Theatre, Dublin); Girl from the North Country (The Old Vic/West End/Broadway/Australia/US tours); Waiting for Godot (West End); Hamlet (Young Vic); The Light in the Piazza (Southbank Centre/LA Music Center/Lyric Opera of Chicago); Miss Littlewood (RSC); Sleeping Beauty (Theatr Clwyd); Ugly Lies The Bone (National Theatre); The Effect (Sheffield Theatres). Theatre as Choreographer includes: Spend Spend Spend (Royal Exchange Manchester); 101 Dalmatians (UK tour); Oliver! (Leeds Playhouse); Billy Elliot the Musical (Leicester Curve); The Last Ship (Northern Stage). Theatre as Intimacy Director includes: Groundhog Day, Machinal (The Old Vic); The Fear of 13 (Donmar).
Stanley Wade
Stanley Wade
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); The Rhinegold (West End); Samson and Delilah (ROH); Ariodante (Théâtre de l’Archevêché, Aix-en-Provence); Once in a Lifetime (Young Vic); Fashion Freak Show (International tour); Priscilla The Party (HERE at Outernet).
Joe Price
Joe Price
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic); My Name Is Rachel Corrie (Young Vic); Outlier (Bristol Old Vic); Petula (National Theatre Wales); The World’s Wife (WNO); Redefining Juliet (Barbican); Wendy, Five Children And It, Rapunzel (Theatre Royal Bath); Revealed (Tobacco Factory Theatres); Heather (Bush); Heads Will Roll, Quality Street, Ask Me Anything, Goldfish Bowl (UK tour); Songs From Across The Sueniverse (Sherman Theatre); Conditionally (Soho Theatre); Mrs Dalloway, Carmen, How To Date A Feminist (Arcola); Box Clever, Killymuck (Bunker Theatre); Magnificence, A Third (Finborough); Some Girl(s) (Park Theatre); Kite (Jing’an Culture Centre, Shanghai); Fossils (59E59 Theatres, New York).
Magdalena Seyfried
Magdalena Seyfried
Theatre includes: Machinal (The Old Vic/Theatre Royal Bath); Metamorphosis, Minotaur (Theatre Royal Bath); Giant, Wozzeck, Rheingold, Mavra / Pierro Lunair, The Seven Deadly Sins/Mahagonny Songspiel (ROH). Television includes: 1000 Blows.