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Clontarf Players were the final group in the 70th year of Newry Drama Festival. Their production of D W Gregory’s ‘ Radium Girls’ explores the true and tragic events surrounding the radium dial painters in the early 20th century.
Set against the backdrop of industrial America the story follows Grace Fryer and her friends who paint watch faces with luminous paint. When the girls begin to suffer from mysterious illnesses, Grace embarks on a courageous journey to seek justice against the powerful radium corporation. Adjudicator Gerry Stembridge praised the set which he said was “in itself simplicity, but beautiful in its simplicity”. He was impressed with the clock’s luminosity and noted that none of the aspects of this set were described in the text but can be attributed to Clontarf’s set designer who created “a beautiful expressionist piece”.
As for lighting- Stembridge complimented the “really tasteful” lighting design. With so many scenes and transitions on a bare stage the light must create the atmosphere. There were approximately 50 transitions of lighting from one scene to another - Stembridge said he felt “around 45 worked and 5 didn’t , but overall the lighting design was gorgeous”. He further commented on “the great stage management and the costumes”. Though the actors played multiple parts the audience were unaware of it, because of the very effective use of costumes and makeup which also reflected accurately the feeling of the period.
The final element of the Presentation was the sound. Stembridge noted that the sound track was “gorgeously composed and beautifully placed. The play should feel and flow like a movie. The flow of sound was just remarkable - creating the atmosphere of a 1930s Warner Bros. Movie”. In summary, Stembidge said “the presentation, sound design and movement of lights were stunning”. Moving to the actors Stembridge noted the cameo roles - Edward Markley played by Derek Tynan, Arthur Rieder played by Ronan Morris and Dr Von Sochocky played by Dick Tobin. Those who played double roles also impressed him greatly. Gracie’s mother who also was the dental receptionist played by Jackie Murphy, Karen Doyle who played a total of seven characters and Brid Turner who “gave a magnificent performance in all her roles”. Rory Dodd, Tommy Campbell, Cathal Dugan and Daniel Elliott’s performances were also noted, as were the performances of Emer Hoy and Claudia Verdecchia.
Stembridge spoke of the direction as being “really good”. Myra Maguire excelled at portraying the personal relationships between the characters, hence there were very strong emotional moments. He highlighted the scene between Tom and Grace , played by Ronan Richardson and Ellen O’Malley where Grace hands Tom back the ring as “remarkable” in terms of emotional depth. Stembrige did observe some late entrances. Also that there were a lot of mixed accents, an issue that he raised in other adjudications during the week. However, he found that the “pacing was appropriate throughout the play, the pauses were earned and that the play finished before he started tiring of it”. Praise indeed for Clontarf players who,in fact later in the evening, won first place lifting many awards including the premier award of the festival. Congratulations Clontarf!!
