Reviews: Radium Girls presented by Gainesville HS
Written by Sienna Nguyen of Centreville HS
In Gainesville High School’s production of Radium Girls, the radium-painted dials of watches transform from symbols of innovation to emblems of exploitation, emphasizing the price of progress.
Radium Girls by D.W. Gregory premiered in 2000 at the Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey. Since then, it has captivated audiences worldwide, with international productions in Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain.
Set in the 1920s, a group of women are impacted by the toxic effects of painting watch dials in a factory. As the clock ticks toward doomsday, the girls battle the devastating outcomes of radium poisoning as well as the corporate powers determined to silence their struggle.
Alexis Cottrell as leading woman Grace Fryer smoothly and successfully displayed the change from dismissive neutrality to fierce determination. At first, Cottrell utilized an apologetic tone, highlighting her indifference to the illness spreading among her coworkers. However, the death of her friend sparked a dramatic change. Without hesitation, Cottrell adopted a stern voice and a face of conviction, transforming Grace into a fighter who seeks justice for herself and her fellow workers, highlighted in a key moment where Cottrell demanded complaint forms from the Health Department. Cottrell’s change in posture and expression indicated to audience members that the meek factory girl once displayed on stage was long gone.
Opposing Fryer’s quest for justice was U.S. Radium Corporation president Arthur Roeder, portrayed by Matthew Del Vacchio. Del Vacchio expertly curated a complex duality in his portrayal, transcending the typical depiction of a villain. His furrowed brows and stern tone revealed a man’s hunger for success, while his eventual self-destruction was supported by a defeated posture and tone heavy with regret. Del Vacchio’s nuanced performance gave a morally gray take on Roeder, portraying him not just as a greedy businessman, but also as one with contrition and guilt.
What could have been dry, expository narration was transformed into lively, almost comical storytelling by Stanley Martinez and Maira Amin as reporters Jack Youngwood and Nancy Jane Harlan. Martinez’s no-nonsense delivery paired with Amin’s over-the-top cheerfulness brought refreshing humor to the otherwise devastating story. With their spot-on news anchor cadence and tone, the duo not only advanced the plot but also injected wit and energy into each headline they reported.
The costumes (Sydney Jones, Caelyn Driscoll, Savannah Sok, Ivy Eyestone) were integral to immersing the audience in the time period and enhancing the chilling atmosphere of the show. Vintage dresses, blouses, and coats were donned by the girls, each piece carefully selected to reflect the era of the 1920s. However, it was the glow-in-the-dark paint splattered on the factory girls’ aprons that transformed standard workwear into something far more sinister. What at first seemed like mild foreshadowing led to an entrancing yet grotesque epilogue where the girls were only illuminated by the glowing radium stained into their clothing, killing them as they ingested it.
With performance and design as illuminating as radium itself, Gainesville High School’s production of "Radium Girls" shined a light on the forgotten women in history, warning audiences of the cost of industrial advancement and corporate greed.
Written by Madelyn Regan of Centreville HS
Tick. Rows of girls stand behind tables, painting watch dials with striking radium. Tick. Blood drips from one girl’s mouth, staining her apron a violent crimson. Tick. A woman stands alone in a graveyard, the bodies of her coworkers buried beneath her feet. Welcome to Radium Girls at Gainesville High School. With every strike of the clock, this chilling story was told with unflinching clarity.
Written by D.W. Gregory, Radium Girls first premiered at the Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey in 2000. This piece of documentary theatre was met with acclaim, and the hauntingly true story has since been performed around the globe. Radium Girls draws from American labor history and follows a group of 1920s factory girls who mysteriously start dying. When they discover that the toxic radium-based paint they work with is ultimately lethal, the girls decide to take a stand, but in the eyes of a greedy corporation, is death itself enough to warrant change?
Leading the fight was Alexis Cottrell, who acted with deliberate intention to showcase the complexity of Grace Fryer. While Cottrell began the show with wistful gazes and hopes to spare, she injected Grace with mature determination when the first of her friends fell dead. In a time when women were taught to remain complicit, she found the courage to scowl in the face of greedy U.S. Radium Corporation President, Mr. Roeder. Matthew Del Vacchio portrayed the president with an impressive range of emotions, especially as Mr. Roeder’s authoritative presence crumbled during the second act.
Another character who found the courage to challenge societal norms, Maira Amin, delivered horrifying headlines as the plucky female reporter Nancy Jane Harlan. Amin’s sharp tone exuded confidence, and she expertly illustrated the strength of a woman who elbowed her way into a male-dominated field. By tossing quips to Stanley Martinez, who played reporter Jack Youngwood, the two ignited a riveting series of banter.
Each member of the Factory Girls Ensemble created a unique character; while some of them worked diligently, others goofed off by painting on each other's hands. Their personalities disappeared through the eyes of Mr. Roeder, however, when the girls transformed into a robotic unit. Moving similarly to the hands of a clock, their rhythmic painting of the watch dials made for a chilling final scene.
The striking costumes, designed and thrifted by Sydney Jones, Caelyn Driscoll, Savannah Sok, and Ivy Eyestone, added another level of eeriness. When the stage went dark, the aprons glowed with splotches of green to highlight the radium’s toxicity. Every costume piece was thoughtfully chosen, and coupled with the crackling of old-timey music, expertly set the scene of 1920s America. Piper Sahlberg and Calvin Suglo’s sound choices contributed to the ambiance by filling scene changes with the tapping of typewriter keys and the ticking of a watch.
At the clock’s final strike of midnight, rows of girls stood on stage, paintbrushes in hand and bathed in darkness. To corporate 1920s America, these women were faceless. To the audience of Gainesville High School’s Radium Girls, their individual determination will never be forgotten.