The lights come up and immediately the audience is put into a tizzy by the rapid-fire and somewhat simultaneous dialogue put forth by three office workers as they gossip about their co-worker's involvement with the boss. Enter the "Young Woman" whose life is about to change for good. Machinal is not a story we haven't heard before. In fact, it is one that is repeated over and over again in books, film and theater for centuries. It goes like this. Woman is pressured to marry a rich man even though she doesn't love him. "He's the vice-president. Of course he's decent!" "I've got to get married. All girls do." Woman is submissive, but afraid to leave her loveless marriage. Woman gets pregnant and has baby that she doesn't want (the audience is not so subtly told as the Young Woman has a sort of schizophrenic monologue after giving birth). Woman finds a lover and experiences true caring and love for a man. Lover gives woman reason and means to kill her husband ("Why did you kill them?" "To get free."). Husband is oblivious to woman's unhappiness as well as her infidelity. Woman kills husband and blames it on "big dark-looking men." Lover crosses woman to save his own butt. Woman is convicted of murdering her husband and executed.

Sound familiar? The overdone plot is saved by the sparks that fly when the woman kisses her lover for the first time, the creative use of the small double-sided stage and the interesting charisma of the actors. Machinal shows the persecution one faces just by being born a woman ("All MEN are born free and entitled to a pursuit of happiness.") and the extreme actions one may take to regain control over their own life. With limited resources, One Year Lease has done a fantastic job creating quality independent theater.