James tests out the avant-garde set of his production, Machinal, in the Wells-Metz Theatre during rehearsal. James Nelson began his directing career with an English-speaking theatre group in Germany and has been an IU director and instructor since 2016.

James rounds up his actors for a briefing before rehearsal in the Wells-Metz Theatre. Directing a play about female oppression, James approaches every Machinal rehearsal with humility and a collaborative spirit.

James plays with the string décor before rehearsal on the set of his production, Machinal. The strings symbolize the theme of imprisonment in a woman’s world.

James and actor Felix Merback examine the string dinner table prop before rolling it on the set of Machinal. James has collaborated with his design team to represent societal imprisonment through strings and black-and-white angles.

James arranges his actors on set in the Wells-Metz Theatre for rehearsal of Episode One, the Prison of Automation. Machinal is structured around nine episodes of Young Woman’s life, with each episode representing a socially-constructed “prison” of femininity.

Actress Kaleigh Howland screams with exasperation in her role in Episode One as an overworked employee of the male corporate world. Machinal depicts nine prisons of the female experience, with Episode One symbolizing the Prison of Automation in a male work-centric society.

Actress Abby Lee and actor Joshua M. Smith rehearse a speakeasy scene on set in the Wells-Metz Theatre as Young Woman and her love interest. Their romance represents one of nine prisons of the female experience: the Prison of False Hope.

Young Woman, played by Abby Lee, awaits her punishment during rehearsal of a court scene. Machinal is an expressionist play that portrays the world to audiences through Young Woman’s eyes: a colorless, angular world of imprisonment.

James converses with actress Abby Lee during rehearsal of the final scene in the Wells-Metz Theatre. James always listens to his actors’ insights in the rehearsal room and incorporates them onto the stage.

Stage lights are the finishing touch to the perfect play in the Wells-Metz Theatre. Machinal takes the stage on February 23rd with final performances on March 3rd.

Actors Connor Starks, Caleb Curtis, and Nathaniel Kohlmeier portray the oppressive law enforcers that stifle Young Woman’s voice in Episode Eight, the Prison of the Word. Machinal addresses female marginalization in all areas of society: work, home, socializing, and even the court of law.

James watches the final run-through of Machinal in the Wells-Metz Theatre at the end of rehearsal. Throughout his experience directing this production, James has learned the importance of listening to other voices.

Jagged white lines, prison bar-like strings from floor to ceiling, and a black, avant-garde set rarely come to mind when one imagines the world of theatre. Many envision theatre as an escape from the trials of reality: whimsical sets, frilly costumes, and stories of magic, romance, and triumph. However, one Indiana University director is tasked with telling a disturbing, less-idealistic tale of marginalization.

James Nelson, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City with a B.A. in Theatre, is the director of the IU Spring 2018 production of Machinal. James was immersed in the world of show business at the age of five, modeling in radio and print advertisements and quickly moving to the stage. It wasn’t until after his undergraduate career that James switched from acting to full-time directing, when he moved to a small town in Germany and directed for an English-speaking theatre group. From that experience, he fell in love with directing: “Even though I had sort of fallen into the job, it felt like what I was supposed to be doing,” says James.

Although he has directed several shows, Machinal carries heavy significance. Written by Sophie Treadwell, Machinal is an expressionist play that depicts the oppression endured by a character, called “Young Woman,” in a patriarchal society.

“For me, Machinal is a play about imprisonment,” says James. Rather than traditional acts, the play is structured around nine episodes of Young Woman’s life. To integrate the play’s episodic structure and the theme of imprisonment, James and his design team worked to represent the nine episodes as nine distinct “prisons” of the female experience. Such prisons depicted include the Prison of Forced Consent, the Prison of the Female Body, and the Prison of Social Pressure, to name a few.

James’ idea of imprisonment translates to the set design. As an expressionist play, Machinal portrays the world through Young Woman’s eyes: a colorless, angular world of uneasiness and entrapment represented by webs of strings and a black-and-white set.

In all his directing work, especially for a sensitive production like Machinal, James approaches every rehearsal with open-mindedness to the creative wisdom of his actors. As Machinal actress Kaleigh Howland notes, “He’s flexible and open to what you bring to the table; so, at the end you leave with a product that you feel you were a part of creating.” While every actor admires his collaborative energy, some especially appreciate his humor and down-to-earth personality. “It’s a great breaker of the natural tension that is prevalent in this play,” says actor Caleb Curtis.

For James, directing a play about marginalization as a non-marginalized white male poses a need for such collaboration and mindfulness: “With this production, I need to ask more questions than I try to answer, listen more than I talk, and make sure that we’re creating an experience that is the product of many voices and perspectives.” James’ humble and collaborative approach to directing Machinal ultimately reveals the power of theatre to educate the uneducated and give agency to the agentless. Such power is relevant in today’s world that threatens to stifle marginalized voices. “It [Machinal] was timely when it was written, it’s timely now, it’s never not been timely.”

Machinal takes the stage of the Wells-Metz Theatre on February 23^rd with final performances on March 3^rd.