Review: 'Radium Girls' by Shakesperience Productions, Inc.

Pictured: Carolyn Becker as Grace, Kathleen Green as Kathryn and Maggie McGuire as Irene in the Bank Street performance of 'Radium Girls'

Waterbury/Woodbury, CT - ‘Radium Girls’ is a piece of theatre written by D.W. Gregory with a local connection. It is based on the true story of the watch dial painters who made labor history that continues to be relevant. Emily Mattina, the Artistic Director of Shakesperience in Waterbury, directed this production and writes that she “endeavored to expand the equity, the empathy, and emotion with which D.W. Gregory has painted both sides of the story and its characters.”In 1926, radium is a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage. That is until the girls who paint those watch dials begin to die. The fast-paced play is based on the true story of the women and men who worked for the U.S. Radium Corporation in Orange, N.J. Another plant operated in Waterbury, CT; Radium Girls were largely from the Connecticut, New Jersey and Illinois companies. The original drama is a wry examination of the commercialization of science and the twin American obsessions with the pursuit of health and wealth.

This is the fourth time that Shakesperience has performed ‘Radium Girls’ in the area, but this is the first time I managed to see a performance. I found this work to be riveting in its subject matter, if a bit hard to watch because we know the fate of the young ladies. The Shakesperience ensemble presented their characters most effectively, with some rising to the level of an outstanding performance.

In the original play nine actors to double into 38 roles, but Shakesperience made it work with a cast of 14 actors and seven recorded voices. Kevin Terwin (Ferdinand in this summer’s ‘The Tempest’) showed off his dramatic skills in the linchpin role of the company official Mr. Roeder. Carolyn Becker (last seen as Miranda in ‘The Tempest’) gave a powerhouse performance as Radium Girl Grace. She mastered the arc of this character with ease and gave what I told her was a beautiful performance as I left the venue.

Kathleen Green (the Ariel of Air/Water in ‘The Tempest’) was equally effective in the role of Radium Girl and Grace’s partner in legal battle named Kathryn. Maggie McGuire brightly rounded out the trio of doomed factory workers in the role of Irene, as well as the young daughter of the Roeders. Claudia Gage did well as the reporter Sob Sister and a photographer. Teresa Moran had a convincing accent as M. Curie.

The male actors were very busy changing from one character to the next and an error in the program made it hard to keep up. Richard Vogt played Mr. Lee, a judge, the lovesick cowboy, a male shopper and Bailey. Pat Donohue (Alonso in ‘The Tempest’) and WAMS teacher Bryan Baker covered Markley, Martland, Von Sochokey, a store owner and others. Matt Johnson (Trinculo in ‘The Tempest’) made his mark as Berry, another reporter and especially as Grace’s love interest Tom. Jampa Stewart played the shady Dr. Flinn and Kneff.

Nancy Palmento Schuler stood out in a fabulous black hat as Miss Wiley while Kirstin Flagg Kunhardt was very strong in the role of Grace’s mother Mrs. Fryer. Most memorable for me were the many characters brought to life by WAMS drama teacher and local director Nina A. Smith. I knew that “Smith,” as she is affectionately called by her students, is an accomplished director but this was the first time that I have seen her in an acting role. She seamlessly transformed from the stern factory supervisor Mrs. MacNeil to Roeder’s pampered wife to Mrs. Michaels and a society woman wrapped in fur, with a fresh accent for each woman. I was most impressed with both her energetic versatility and her strength.

Ms. Mattina noted in her curtain speech that the cast had done several performance of this incarnation of ‘Radium Girls’ at their small Bank Street location in Waterbury, with two shows for local students on the morning of their opening night at the Old Town Hall in Woodbury. They quickly moved the show into the large audience space of the venue used by the Community Theatre at Woodbury, choosing not to use the stage area. The action took place in what would normally be the middle aisle of the house, with two rows of folding chairs set up on both sides. The Radium Girls painted watch dials on a platform near the exit, the company officials had their office near the stage and much of the action (especially the work of Smith) took place in the space in between. It was the wooden floor that announced the entrances of the actors and this actually helped the audience to focus on the correct location. At only a few points did those in attendance have to turn their heads as at a tennis match.

On the whole, the transfer by the production team was successful, but the effectiveness of the use of above-stage voices was uneven. Some instances worked well, while others were difficult to understand and unclear in purpose, at least to me. The ringtone of an audience member’s cell phone might easily have been mistaken for a sound effect, because in fact it was louder than the recordings. Recorded voices included WATR’s Tom Chute and Barbara Davitt, Claudio Capone, Bob Kelly, Jim O’Rourke, Michael Regan and Adam Weppler.

Shakesperience's ‘Radium Girls’ runs in Woodbury through October 1.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues and she posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theater Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417