Who was Sophie Treadwell?

Sophie Treadwell, writer of Machinal, was a leading playwright and journalist in the early 20th century, but was largely forgotten until a renaissance of her work in the 1990s. She was a pioneer in both theatre and journalism, pushing the boundaries of what was expected of, and possible for, women during her lifetime. As the Daily Telegraph wrote in 1993, ‘Treadwell is one of those fascinating people whose life was full of adventure but about whom little was ever recorded.’ 

A daughter

Sophie Treadwell was born in Stockton, California in 1885 to parents of Scottish and Mexican heritage. Her parents had a troubled marriage with Treadwell’s father leaving his family to live in San Francisco in 1891. Although Treadwell’s mother had always vowed to divorce him, she was unable to due to financial and emotional hardships. References to Treadwell’s heritage and parent’s marriage can be seen throughout her journalism and plays, including Machinal. 

Eventually Treadwell and her mother joined her father, Alfred, in San Francisco, which is where she first experienced theatre. She saw Helena Modjeska, a famous contemporary actress, perform in The Merchant of Venice.  

A performer

Treadwell attended the University of California at Berkeley, where she became involved with theatre and journalism – both of which would remain parallel interests during her career. After university, Treadwell moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, working in vaudeville. In 1908, she found work typing the memoirs of Helena Modjeska who encouraged her to pursue writing.  

A wife

In 1910, Treadwell married William O. McGeehan, known as ‘Mac’, a noted sports journalist who she met while working at the San Francisco bulletin. Although their marriage was amiable, it was unconventional for the time, with Treadwell keeping her maiden name and living apart from her husband for long stretches in their marriage.  

Six months after their wedding, Treadwell suffered the first of several mental health breakdowns and was admitted into St. Helena Sanatorium. Her mental health can be seen mirrored in her characters, including the young woman in Machinal. She would struggle with these for the rest of her life.  

A journalist

Following her stint in vaudeville, Treadwell pursued a career in journalism but did not leave her acting skills behind. In 1914 she posed as a homeless prostitute and tried to seek aid from several Christian organisations for an article titled An Outcast at the Christian Door, gaining her recognition for her journalism. As a woman she was not permitted to access the frontlines and instead wrote articles focussing on the realities of war for the women in Europe. Treadwell later became a specialist reporter on the Mexican Revolution for the New York Tribune and in 1921 was the only foreign journalist allowed to interview the revolutionary Pancho Villa. The interview lasted two days and became the inspiration for her play Gringo.  

In 1927 and 1928, Treadwell sat in the murder trials of May Ruth Snyder and Henry Judd Gray, even though she was not reporting on it. As a journalist, her interest was piqued by the story that had captured such great media attention, and watching the trial unfold caused her to consider what crushing circumstances would lead a woman to murder her husband in order to achieve freedom. This question is what went onto inspire Machinal. The play was the perfect blend of Treadwell’s interest in social issues and women’s rights with her artistic skills as a journalist and a playwright.  

A playwright

Treadwell is known to have written at least 39 plays, however, only seven of these were ever produced. Her plays were often inspired by her journalistic interests, as can be seen in Gringo and Machinal. She wrote her plays with a female audience in mind, saying that she hoped to awake the ‘still secret places in the consciousness of the audience, especially of women’. Unusually for female playwrights of the time, she often also produced, directed and performed in her plays.

Treadwell faced many challenges as a woman in her industry, most notably her lawsuit against playwright John Barrymore for plagiarising a play she had written about Edgar Allen Poe. Although she won the case, she was heavily criticised in the media and struggled to receive opportunities on Broadway following the case. In 1933 Treadwell suffered both the loss of her husband and the failure of her new play Lone Valley which closed only three days after opening. It is then that she began to focus on making her family ranch profitable.  

In 1941 she produced a play adaptation of her novel A Hope for a Harvest, based on her experiences on the ranch. The failure of this adaptation would mark the end of Treadwell’s playwrighting career. Machinal remains her most successful play by far, and she lived to see it revived off Broadway in 1960.  

Despite the adversity she faced, Treadwell’s work remained her driving force until she died. Towards the end of her life, she said, ‘Work is the greatest thing on earth, greater than love, greater than death. . . Work is the product of time and energy — and time is the brother of death. Death is the reward for having lived.’ 

Machinal is on stage at The Old Vic from 11 Apr 2024 and tickets are on sale now. We recommend booking early to get the best choice of seats and ticket prices.