Radium Girls
at South County High School

Reviewed on November 22, 2019

Elena Auclair
Teen Theatre Company
Submitted for publication to Cappies News

Should it matter if a company owner cannot recall the faces of the factory girls working for him? How they were slowly being killed by his glowing radioactive radium paint? South County High School's production of Radium Girls was powerfully presented by high schoolers who personified the real characters in this tragic historical drama.

The play, "Radium Girls," was written by D.W. Gregory, based on the true story of the radium girls in the 1920's. Young women working with radium paint met their quota by licking, or "lip-pointing" the brushes. With each lick, they ingested radioactive radium. As Grace Fryer, a watch dial painter for the U.S. Radium Corporation, sued the company, the radium girls made front-page news, exposing how the lack of understanding radium's deadly characteristics led to their deaths.

Grace Fryer (Mincy Barbosa) was an intense performer who set the tone of "Radium Girls." Barbosa's energy slowly depleted throughout the play, as she struggled with a long legal battle she seemed to be losing. Barbosa's two friends, Kathryn Schaub (Shaylen Estrella), and Irene Rudolph (Aren Iverson) made up the radium girls, who played with the paint and talked about boys and flowers in Act I. But in Act II, after Iverson's death, Barbosa and Estrella exhibited deep and genuine desperation, anger, and hopelessness through their constrained postures and moments of silence.

Tom (Zach Patel) was Barbosa's loyal fiancé, providing lightheartedness in Act I with easy teasing that switched to heartbreaking scenes in Act II emphasized by Patel's expressions and natural delivery. As the company owner, Arthur Roeder (Aadith Iyer) kept an upright posture that slowly slipped as his mistakes compounded. The reporters, played by Ella Nguyen and Kevon Thompson, kept America updated on the radium girls with energy straight from the 1920's. Thompson's other role as the Lovesick Cowboy drew laughs from the audience as he propositioned Estrella, and his performance as the lawyer, Berry, was serious as he defended the radium girls.

The set contained three levels that isolated different scenes throughout the play. Leads Ella Nguyen and Mikayla Park created a factory workplace on the top level that shadowed the stage with a huge clock. Lighting by Sarah Khalil brightened the stage with radium, represented with a slight green tint in the white lights, and a green glow during transitions. Hair, makeup, and special effects by Erika Laurito, Bella Mazzei, Gwyn Carter, and Adrian Alora created a three-dimensionality to the world built on stage. Horrible sores and wounds for the radium girls grew during the play, contrasting with their neatly pulled back hair. Projections on either side of the stage highlighted key moments, especially the striking headlines of the reporters. Ryan Bonanno and Julien Monette composed all the music for the show, using ominous strings and dissonant tones to fit the theme. A clock ticked in Act I, slowing down in Act II, representing the desperate fight for a fair trial that was delayed, again and again.

South County High School's production of Radium Girls examined the real-life tragedy of what happens when there is much light, but no understanding. At the very end of the play, Iyer talked about how he couldn't recall any of the faces of the girls that worked for him. And at that moment, the images of the now-deceased radium girls working up at the factory turned and looked down at him. Hindsight illuminated by glowing, terribly powerful radium.

Zander Kuebler
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Submitted for publication to Cappies News 2

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Time is running out for the fatally ill radium girls at South County High School, and the clock's ticking provides an eerie reminder of the tragedy yet to come.

Written in 2000, D.W. Gregory's Radium Girls provides an authentic depiction of the 1920's controversy surrounding the sicknesses of factory-working women, aka the radium girls, who painted watch dials with dangerous radium-filled paint. First premiering at The Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, the frightening two-act tale sheds light on the corruption within the American legal system, and questions just how much of modern science can be trusted.

While Radium Girls follows the story of all of the New Jersey radium girls, it focuses on one woman in particular: the resilient and dedicated Grace Fryer. Mincy Barbosa takes on this role with ruthless dedication to her character, expertly drawing sympathy for her unfortunate situation, while still maintaining the extreme motivation needed to combat the difficulties surrounding her. As the story progresses and Fryer becomes increasingly sick and angry, Barbosa exemplifies the transition of her character with a dramatic change in physicality and tone, practically erupting with anger near the end of the story.

Opposite to the drastic increase in Fryer's anger is the United States Radium Corporation president, Arthur Roeder, who must maintain calm demeanor throughout the tragedy. Aadith Iyer's smooth, aloof depiction of Roeder contrasts beautifully with Barbosa's extreme inflation of anger as Fryer, making for intense scenes between the two when meeting in court.

The passionate portrayals of the other radium girls adequately echo the struggles Fryer faces. Aren Iveson as Irene Rudolph and Shaylen Estrella as Kathryn Schaub, two girls who each fall ill and die from the radium, shine as they transition from bubbly, energetic girls, to sick, bedridden young women, driving the energy behind the production.

Enhancing the fear and tension surrounding this already fierce battle for employee rights are the costume and makeup crews, providing impressively realistic representations of the physical decay the women faced. The faces of the radium-plagued girls are slowly covered in grotesque blisters and boils, and their hair and clothing become more and more disheveled as they grow sicker, demonstrating the remarkable accuracy of the two departments. A bone-chilling, completely original score by students Julien Monette and Ryan Bonanno adds to the terror as well. The foreboding ticking of a clock is present in each song, ultimately getting faster as the time left in the radium girls' lives diminishes further and further, striking fear into the hearts of audience members with each tick.

Bringing a horrendous 1920's controversy to life, South County High School's Radium Girls leaves little to be desired in the means of tech and acting alike.

Simon Van Der Weide
Flint Hill School
Submitted for publication to FCPS Community News

The year was 1926. For almost two decades, radium had been the new darling of the chemical industry, a novelty, a toy. Marie Curie, its discoverer, toured the United States and gushed about its potential cancer-curing properties. But, in the luminous watch-painting factories of the United States Radium Corporation, young girls were already ingesting fatal amounts of radium. "Radium Girls" is their story, a story of life and death.

Written in 2000 by D.W. Gregory, Radium Girls follows three women in Orange, New Jersey from the first moments at work in the watch-painting factory to the last painful breaths as they succumb to the effects of radiation poisoning. As the years pass, the girls' conditions worsen, and it seems that no one – not even those closest to them – can bring peace to their waking nightmare. South County High School's production of Radium Girls brought audiences all the way back to the 1920's, where they knew little about their favorite element, radium, and its hidden dangers.

Mincy Barbosa (Grace Fryer) revealed the increasing complexity of her shattered mind through inspired physicality and gripping emotion. Whether murmuring quietly or shrieking at the unfairness of it all, Barbosa never failed to tug at the heartstrings with her moving presentation of the last one left. On the other side of the historic lawsuit stood Aadith Iyer (Arthur Roeder), who portrayed the gnawing guilt of the United States Radium Corporation CEO with humble honesty. Together, Barbosa and Iyer revealed the crux of the play: the plight of the radium girls, swept under the rug by a self-interested corporation.

Serving as talented foils to Barbosa's Fryer were Shaylen Estrella (Kathryn Schaub) and Zach Patel (Tom). In his most intimate moments, Patel managed to convey both the wonder of a naïve fiancée and the desperation of watching a loved one die. Barbosa and Patel captivated the audience with their genuine chemistry as they grappled with the true effects of radium. While Patel offered love, Estrella offered a reminder of this show's inspiration as she transformed from a lighthearted, cheery girl to a bedridden woman, dying alone in a hospital.

Technical elements brought out the tragedy and tangible consequences that befell the real Radium Girls. Make-up captured the truly grotesque nature of the cancer, marring their faces with bloody tumors that progressively worsened. The windows and clock of a watch-painting factory, core elements of the set designed by Ella Nguyen, loomed over the show from their prominent position in the background. An eerie radium green hue cast the entire stage in radioactive silhouette as music, composed by Julien Monette and Ryan Bonanno, set the mood.

South County High School's production of Radium Girls stayed true to the heavy weight of life and left audiences hung up on the girls who knocked on the doors of justice but received too little too late.

Ella Fosse
Lake Braddock Secondary School
Submitted for publication to Patch.com

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. A luminescent green light fills the factory. For the girls working, the glow of the watch dial means money. In a few years, however, that same glow will make their clocks stop. South County's Radium Girls was a chilling production that struck the hearts of the audience with horror in the form of that bright green glow.

D.W. Gregory's 2000 play Radium Girls is a grim account of a little-known tragedy in American history. In the 1920's, many girls who had been working in a New Jersey factory with radioactive paint began to fall sick and die. They fought for compensation from the U.S. Radium Company, and were eventually able to score a supplement. Radium Girls follows the true story of Grace Fryer, a woman who died from this ailment in 1933.

South County's cast and crew moved like clockwork through the intricate script. Every aspect of the show fit together like cogs of a machine, combining skilled actors with merit-worthy technical aspects that ultimately produced a well-executed production. The ensemble worked together to a cohesive and sometimes eerie effect, while also shining on their own in small but integral roles that added to the reality of the show.

Mincy Barbosa brought the audience to tears with her complex, intensely emotional portrayal of Grace Fryer, the central focus of the play and the last radium girl standing. Her ability to change from a bouncy 15-year-old to a woman afflicted with an unimaginably painful disease so nimbly is a true testament to her skill. She pushed the production forward with her stage presence and chemistry with every cast member. Aadith Iyer's characterization of Arthur Roeder revealed the complexities of the character's emotions on the conflict of what is right and what is wrong. His introspective portrayal was well executed and brought a respectable energy to the stage.

This production had a stellar cast, of which there were some standouts. Freshman Aren Iverson shone as the young Irene Rudolph, perfectly encapsulating a childish energy that would become chilling in the second act's dream sequence. Her lovable performance caused the audience to truly mourn after she died. As the third member of the Radium Girl trio, Shaylen Estrella displayed her talent as Kathryn Shaub through her expert characterization. She portrayed the cold indifference of her dying character with remarkable skill.

The technical elements were integral to the success of this show, and they were executed with great precision. The set, designed by Ella Nguyen, provided an effectively layered space that lent itself well to the constantly shifting nature of the scenes. The design was dominated by the factory floor with its clock on top, which tied the symbolism of the show together. The factory is always present, suggesting its effect on the characters' lives. Sarah Khalil's versatile lighting shaped the tone of the show excellently, providing the trademark green glow that constantly appeared to indicate the presence of radium. Her use of blacklight was a rare, and well executed, treat. The original score composed by Julien Monette and Ryan Bonanno was the icing on the cake, tying the themes all together with the tick of a clock.

South County's eerie Radium Girls served as a chilling reminder of the women who paid the ultimate price for a watch.

Grace Hodges
Teen Theatre Company
Submitted for publication to Lorton Valley Star

"Alright ladies, let's punch the clock! Lip, dip, and paint away!" World War I is in full swing, and our boys oversees need help. Follow South County High School's production of Radium Girls as they fight for truth and justice, even if their clocks are quickly ticking away.

Penned by author D.W. Gregory in 2000, Radium Girls follows the true store of the determined Grace Fryer and her doomed watch-painting colleagues. Assured that the radium paint was completely safe, the unknowing girls were instructed to lick the paint brushes to receive a fine point. The girls soon began suffering from odd back aches and jaw ailments, setting the stage for what would soon be a long and tiresome battle to expose the companies malpractice.

The frightful story is told primarily through the eyes of the determined Grace Fryer, spectacularly performed by Mincy Barbosa. With her fiery eyes of determination and powerful delivery of lines, Barbosa was able to whole-heartedly showcase the fire in Grace's mental strength, as well as transporting the audience into her world of despair. As the show progressed, Barbosa flawlessly changed both her attitude and stature, changing from a bright and determined young girl to a desperate and broken woman, limping across the stage and painfully looking into the audience.

Opposite of Grace Fryer stood the watch-painting business's conflicted boss, Arthur Roeder, played by Aadith Iyer, who knew something horrible was taking place, but was torn between his company's profits and his workers well-being. Using looks of anguish with a hint of uncertainty in his shaking voice, Iyer's heart-breaking performance of Arthur Roeder made the audience ask themselves, "What would I do in this situation?"

Doomed miserably from the start, the audience watched with terror as Kathryn Schaub (Shaylen Estrella) and Irene Rudolph (Aren Iverson) blindly trusted the "miracle" paint, allowing each other to paint the others face, teeth, and nails. Going from a happy-go-lucky young lady to a hopeless woman, Estrella used bouncing-like physicality to slumped shoulders and tired eyes to portray how defeated her character had become. With shaking hands and looks of terror, Iverson's portrayal as the first unlucky victim brought a sense of dread to the audience, allowing the first indication that something was horribly wrong with the paint.

Playing multiple roles such as scientist Madame Curie, Society woman, and Dr. Knef, Payton Robinson used multiple perfected accents throughout the show, including a range from German to Bronx. With her taunting chants and deceptiveness towards Grace, Robinson added a layer of delusion into the plot, causing each of the characters to be cautious with one another.

Utilizing their special talents together, the phenomenal set crew transformed the high school theatre into the desperate world of the radium girls. The special effects crew (Adrian Alora) used liquid latex, scar wax, and petroleum jelly to continuously make the girls' facial wounds look gruesomely realistic and advanced with each stage of the disease. The creativity (Ryan Bonanno and Julien Monette) composed a total of 35 brilliantly crafted songs, allowing the audience to truly fall deep into the story of the desperate girls.

The lives and deaths of the radium girls exposed the horrible truth of the "miracle" radium paint. South County High School's performance of Radium Girls left the dreadful memories of the young ladies glowing in the hearts of the audience, just as the radium left the ladies forever glowing in their graves.

Clare A'Hearn
McLean High School
Submitted for publication to Connection

Who knew that radioactive chemicals are dangerous? Well, the people of 1926 were surely not aware of this fact as seen in South County High School's production of Radium Girls, which answers the question of what occurred to the people who simply thought radium to be a glow-in-the-dark substance.

Based on a true story, Radium Girls was written by D.W. Gregory in 2000 and follows the lives of young female factory workers tasked with painting watch faces with a luminous radium substance. When the workers develop ailments as a result of their exposure to the radioactive element, their conditions worsen and they have no choice but to challenge the company that is gradually killing them.

Aadith Iyer commanded the stage as Arthur Roeder with his depiction of the conflicting characteristics of compassion and greed. Iyer portrayed the human side of a villain and the strife that comes with being the head of a corrupt company, both of which were accentuated by Iyer's uptight posture, clear articulation, and overall authoritative presence.

Mincy Barbosa played Grace Fryer and portrayed her character's declining health with mannerisms such as trembling hands and a pained hobble across the stage. Barbosa's ability was highlighted through shy yet loving glances, illustrated in the relationship between Grace and her husband Tom (Zach Patel). Together, Barbosa and Patel's endearing partnership provided comedic relief even through the desolation of the show.

Irene Rudolph (Aren Iverson), Kathryn Schaub (Shaylen Estrella), and Grace Fryer amplified the show's spirit of female empowerment through their supportive yet playful nature towards one another. Blending her initial feistiness with the sudden emotion required for her performance, Iverson took on her role with ease as she played off Estrella and Barbosa, providing a charming dynamic. They exhibited consistency with their movements, particularly with a commitment to licking paintbrushes and the clockwork choreography as displayed in the nightmare scene.

The entire ensemble allowed for the cohesive flow of the show as they accurately identified the tone shifts and accented the pivotal moments. The pair of reporters (Ella Nguyen and Kevon Thompson) added to the collective energy with their lively spirit, which was both engaging and fit the tone of the time period.

The technical elements of the production united together in order to meet the expectations of the show. The lighting, headed by Sarah Khalil, back lit the sets, alternating among a scenic sunset and a neon green shine. The green illumination allowed for a parallel between the beginning and end as silhouettes of the factory workers were presented, providing an ominous stage picture. Lighting enhanced transitions replacing the standard blackout with a fade to a green hue. The music, written by students Julien Monette and Ryan Bonanno, accompanied transitions as it subtly matched the emotion of the scenes that it surrounded. The show demanded intricate and vividly grotesque makeup to represent the girls' declining health, and the makeup crew accomplished this with peeling skin and sores that looked painful to the touch. The time period of the show was recognized within the production as the hair of the factory workers was tied up to reflect the factory regulations. Grace's hairstyle was altered throughout the production to symbolize the deterioration of her health and conformity to society.

The luminescence of radium may glow so vividly in the dark, but not as distinctly as South County High School's production of Radium Girls where each actor shone brighter than the radioactive substance.

Savannah Raeder
Lake Braddock Secondary School
Submitted for publication to Fairfax County Times

The sound of a clock ticking boomed through the theater as a green light looms over the stage. As the silhouette of factory workers sitting at three long tables appears on stage, South County High School's production of Radium Girls by D.W Gregory begins.

Radium Girls is based off of a true story from the 1920's, when radium was considered a miracle cure and celebrated across the world. That was until girls in factories started painting it on their faces, fingernails, and even teeth just for fun and games. The play follows Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she fights for her day in court. Her chief adversary is her former employer, Arthur Roeder, an idealistic man who cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumors could have anything to do with the terrifying rash of illnesses among his employees. As the case goes on, Grace finds herself battling not just with the U.S. Radium Corporation, but with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire.

Starting the show with young, hopeful energy and finishing it with a chilling touch, Mincy Barbosa, Shaylen Estrella, and Aren Iverson's portrayal of Grace, Katherine, and Irene threw the audience for a loop and gave the show the eerie touch it needed. Mincy Barbosa's characterization of Grace Fryer was unapologetically real and was not afraid to show the audience the raw emotion her character felt. Arthur Roeder (Aadith Iyer) stayed consistently impressive with his character's intense story line and back and forth moral dilemma.

While this show does not have many moments for comedy, the reporters (Kevon Thompson and Ella Nguyen) made sure to make the audience chuckle every time they walked onstage. Their bright energy and brief moments of sass gave the audience the amount of comedic relief they needed in the middle of this dark show. Grace and her boyfriend Tom (Zach Patel) also gave the audience a break for a while with their on point romantic chemistry and adorable stage presence as a couple.

The set was intricately constructed as three platforms, with the factory scene staying consistent through the whole show which set a very eerie tone in every scene. At the very top sat a clock, excellent and creative design by the set crew (Ella Nguyen and Mikayla Park). The original score made by South County students themselves (Julien Monette and Ryan Bonanno) set the disturbing and uneasy tone of the show between every scene and was expertly composed. The make up team (Erika Laurito, Bella Mazzei, and Gwyn Carter) and the special effects team (Adrian Alora) worked together to create disgustingly real and accurate sickly makeup on the dying girls, with scabs and scars to even making blood ooze from some girls mouths.

Ending with a bang, the clock in the auditorium finally ticked for the last time as all of the Radium Girls ended where they started. The Radium Girls once again sat silhouetted in green light for a chilling final moment of the show.