Theater can be many things. It can be entertainment, joy and hilarity. Often, it can also be a mirror — sometimes a rearview mirror — put up to society. The very best of theater asks questions, and it does not always answer them completely. Here at USC’s most recent stage work, world-class actors and production crews ask one tremendously important question: What does it take to commit the most unspeakable crimes?

The expressionist, neurotic and poignant “Machinal” is the latest show to grace the School of Dramatic Arts’ storied McClintock Theatre stage. Inspired by a real-life 1927 crime, this careful, purposefully disorderly tale tells the story of a woman forced into a marriage, the societal impositions upon her and what she must do to escape.

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For the second time in quick succession, an SDA main stage show throws traditional stages out the back door, innovating with seating arrangements and presentation of plays. First, “Marat/Sade” brought two audience members up on stage with the players every night. This time, a whole line of audience members is able to visit the traverse stage of “Machinal,” adding an extra dimension to the theatergoing experience.

Those seated in the middle of the stage — in contrast to the rest of the audience cast to the sides of the space — later even double as the jury of a courtroom scene. On the two walls unoccupied by the audience, wall elements hung from the grid above and hands crept through openings to wash dishes in a domestic setting or tend to the sick in a hospital. Disembodied sections of an early 20th-century metropolis inhabited the theater with simultaneous uneasiness and curiosity.

Other striking imagery invaded McClintock Theatre throughout. Rigid and metallic typewriters, among other machines, and a long, enveloping robe that covered multiple actors on stage at once in the courtroom scene all added to the sterile darkness of the world at large. The inhabitants of this world, however, are the highlight of “Machinal.”

Among the players that form part of the “Love Cast” — one of the two casts that will perform “Machinal” — the lead role of “Young Woman” stands out.

Hattie Ugoretz, a sophomore majoring in theatre as well as mathematics, plays the lead role. She is erratic and goes at a thousand miles a minute in the most magnificent way. Just her eyes are expressive enough to tell the whole story, and her physicality — and lung capacity, as proven by her single-breath monologues — are otherworldly.

Opposite Ugoretz is Coby Hawkins, a junior majoring in acting for stage and screen, with an insecure yet frightening “Husband.” His voice, as well as his stance, composes a fierce and imposing eminence perfect for the controlling, hateful role he plays.

For the vast majority of the rest of the cast, roles are either less present or brought to life by the same actors. The difficult labor of representing multiple people in a theatrical setting is not lost on an audience that is, as required, able to suspend their disbelief given the strength of said performers.

Among them, a handful stand out. Sophie Martinez, a junior majoring in theatre with an emphasis in acting, immediately infuses the stage with life and fervor with her rendition of “Telephone Girl.” Her charm and energy act as a fantastic foil to the unsure and jittery lead.

Caleb Miller, a junior majoring in public relations, also explodes with charm onto the scene until he does not. As “Young Man,” the suaveness of his brow, swiftly followed by the hilarity of his shallowness, make for a tremendously memorable visiting character right before and precisely after intermission.

Perhaps the most excellent ensemble members outside the leading roles, despite having a much shorter time onstage, are the two quarreling attorneys. Farah Hosseini, a senior majoring in theatre with an emphasis in acting, fights tirelessly as “Defense Lawyer.”

It is rare to find someone so graceful in a role that forces the character to slowly lose control of the room. This desperation is played to perfection by Hosseini.

On the opposite end, Ian Grady conquers McClintock Theatre for the brief moment he is shown to the audience.

The senior majoring in theatre with an emphasis in acting brings the house down as “Prosecution Lawyer,” with his intense and magisterial interrogation of Ugoretz’s character not just being immediately powerful but also creating a whole visual and audio environment as his shouts are backed up and amplified by the sound design that reverberated his claims around the venue.

The figurative — and literal — balancing act also plays into the tasks of the ensemble. At one point, in a bar scene, a glass fell while the background characters were meant to be acting in slow motion.

To the joy and cackles of the audience, all the actors played it off as an in-world, purposeful mishap. This showed tremendous playfulness and skill in the actors and was a great example of the type of on-your-feet thinking that these players have tamed and internalized.

However, on another hand and perhaps due to the sheer amount of different characters and the bouncing back and forth between them, some ensemble members are occasionally monotonous and toned down. This might, though, be better than the alternative: Over-the-top acting that fails to distill the desired seriousness and messages of sexism, toxic patriarchy and freedom.

Unfortunately, here we suffer from the size of the cast versus the amount of roles. Though it gives permission and opportunity for many magnificent performers to play in this powerful show, it does detract slightly from the show’s overall quality.

Still, a surprisingly timely period piece has been expertly brought to life by director Sabra Williams and will bow out on Nov. 3 next weekend. This gives enough time for the University community to visit this snapshot of history, be in awe of its gorgeous set design and world-beating performances, and reflect on its statement on an unequal, unfair society.

“Machinal” will run for four more showings up until Nov. 3 at USC’s McClintock Theatre.