Machinal
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40 free Machinal trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Machinal turned a tabloid murder trial of the 1920s into one of the most unsettling plays of the American stage. Its heroine is an ordinary young woman pushed through work, marriage and a baby until she breaks, and audiences have argued about her guilt ever since. This quiz covers the story episode by episode, the characters and what becomes of them, the real case the play drew on, the writer behind it, and the best-known productions, from the first Broadway run to recent revivals in London and New York. It is written for drama students revising the play, for theatre-goers who have just seen a production, and for anyone curious about why a play from 1928 still fills theatres.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01After her murder conviction, how is the Young Woman put to death in the final episode of Machinal?
The electric chair
The electric chair silences her in the middle of a final cry, a fate borrowed from the real case behind the play.
Q 02Which real-life murderer, executed at the start of 1928, inspired the play Machinal later that year?
Ruth Snyder
Ruth Snyder died that January, and Machinal reached Broadway in September, less than eight months after the execution.
Q 03Which American journalist wrote the play Machinal after attending a sensational murder trial?
Sophie Treadwell
Sophie Treadwell had seven plays staged on Broadway between 1922 and 1941, but Machinal is the one that lasted.
Q 04Which future Hollywood star made his Broadway debut as the lover in Machinal in 1928?
Clark Gable
Clark Gable drew good reviews in the part, and one critic praised him as young, vigorous and brutally masculine.
Q 05What did a newspaperman strap to his ankle at the execution of the woman who inspired Machinal?
A miniature camera
A miniature camera caught the moment for the New York Daily News, which ran the picture on its front page the next day.
Q 06In Machinal, whom does the Young Woman reluctantly marry despite finding him physically repulsive?
Her boss
Her boss is patient and well off, and marrying him promises an escape from a job she finds stifling.
Q 07The title Machinal comes from which language, where the word means mechanical or automatic?
French
French was also the playwright's own subject: she took her degree in it at the University of California, Berkeley.
Q 08What does the Young Woman use to kill her husband in Machinal, copying a story her lover told?
A bottle of stones
A bottle of stones was her lover's own trick: he boasted of clubbing two captors with one, and his sworn statement later helps convict her.
Q 09Machinal's nameless characters and jarring sounds make it a landmark of which theatrical movement?
Expressionism
Expressionism shows the world as the main character feels it, which is why her co-workers in Machinal sound like parts of one machine.
Q 10Which 1944 film noir grew out of the same real murder case that inspired the play Machinal?
Double Indemnity
Double Indemnity began as a James M. Cain novella based on the 1927 killing, insurance policy on the husband included.
Q 11In Machinal, the lover's affidavit arrives from which country, where he once killed two captors?
Mexico
Mexico is where the lover goes back to once the affair is over, leaving a written statement to do the damage in court.
Q 12Which pair of courtroom onlookers in Machinal describe the Young Woman's trial in opposite ways?
Two reporters
Two reporters read their notes aloud, one admiring her and one hostile, a pointed comment on how the press slants a trial.
Q 13In Machinal's final episode, who arrives to prepare the Young Woman for execution against her will?
Barbers
Barbers come to shave a patch of her head before the execution, and she fights them off until they overpower her.
Q 21Which actress first played Machinal's Young Woman, four years before co-starring in The Mummy?
Zita Johann
Zita Johann turned down the lead in Universal's film of Show Boat so that she could star in Machinal on Broadway.
Q 22Which Broadway producer, lessee of the Plymouth Theatre, directed the first production of Machinal?
Arthur Hopkins
Arthur Hopkins produced and staged more than 80 plays in his career, among them works by Eugene O'Neill and Elmer Rice.
Q 23Under which alternative title was Machinal first performed in Britain in 1931?
The Life Machine
The Life Machine was the London title in 1931, three years after the Broadway run; later British revivals went back to the original name.
Q 14Which first name does Machinal eventually give its Young Woman, whose married surname is Jones?
Helen
Helen is paired with the plainest of surnames because the play presents her as an ordinary young woman who could be anyone.
Q 15In Machinal's opening scene, the Young Woman is late for work because she could not bear what?
The crowded subway
The crowded subway makes her feel she is suffocating, the first sign of the trapped feeling that follows her through the play.
Q 16Which co-worker brings the Young Woman to the bar where she meets her lover in Machinal?
The Telephone Girl
The Telephone Girl is carrying on an affair of her own with the lover's friend, and the two soon slip away to leave the new pair alone.
Q 17What is the full name of the Young Woman's lover in Machinal, read out with his affidavit in court?
Richard Roe
Richard Roe is also the stock name lawyers pair with John Doe for an unnamed party, a fitting label in a play built from types.
Q 18Which one-word title does Machinal give the bar episode in which the Young Woman meets her lover?
Prohibited
Prohibited fits twice over: the play was written during America's ban on alcohol, and the affair that begins in the bar is forbidden too.
Q 19What does the Young Woman carry home from her lover's room in Machinal as a keepsake of the affair?
A blooming lily
A blooming lily sits in a bowl on his windowsill, and his sworn statement later tells the court that she took it away with her.
Q 20In Machinal's hospital episode, which building-site noise drowns out the Young Woman's words?
Riveting
Riveting from a tall building going up beside the ward hammers through the scene, in which she refuses to hold her newborn daughter.
Q 24After Broadway and London, Machinal found its greatest early success at a theatre in which city?
Moscow
Moscow saw it at the Kamerny Theatre, and the playwright became the first American dramatist to win royalty payments from the Soviet Union.
Q 25Which Irish actress won an Olivier Award as the Young Woman in the National Theatre's 1993 Machinal?
Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw took Best Actress for the role, years before a wider audience met her as Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter films.
Q 26Which director won an Olivier Award for staging Machinal at London's National Theatre in 1993?
Stephen Daldry
Stephen Daldry later moved into film, making his feature debut with Billy Elliot and following it with The Hours.
Q 27Which British actress made her Broadway debut as the Young Woman in the 2014 revival of Machinal?
Rebecca Hall
Rebecca Hall led a Roundabout Theatre staging whose set, costumes, lighting and sound all earned Tony nominations.
Q 28Which London theatre hosted the 2024 Machinal from Bath, starring Olivier nominee Rosie Sheehy?
The Old Vic
The Old Vic took in the Theatre Royal Bath production for a spring run in its 1,000-seat auditorium.
Q 29Which future Bond villain played the husband in ITV's 1960 Armchair Theatre version of Machinal?
Donald Pleasence
Donald Pleasence went on to play Blofeld in You Only Live Twice, seven years after acting opposite Joanna Dunham's Young Woman.
Q 30The 1990 Public Theater revival of Machinal, directed by Michael Greif, won three of which prizes?
Obie Awards
Obie Awards went to actress Jodie Markell, to the direction and to the design; Greif later staged the original production of Rent.