Radium Girls competition cast glows at theater festival

India Ismael|February 11, 2022

On Jan. 22, 2022, the Independence Theatre and Performing Arts (ITPA) competition cast had an excellent run of their show, Radium Girls, coming in as the runner-up at the Section Theater Festival. 

Radium Girls is a play written by D.W. Gregory, following the story of Grace Fryer and her fight for justice against the U.S. Radium Corporation and bad working conditions in the 1920s. ITPA’s competition cast performed the first act of the show at the Festival. 

During the competition, tensions were high for the cast. Stage manager Kelly Donlan, 12, explained, “We have 35 minutes [to perform], and we had been running [the show] at about 50 minutes during rehearsals.” However, the ensemble was able to meet the time limits and performed a highly successful show. 

In addition to the ensemble’s second place score, Max Layman, 12, and Katie Phillips, 12, earned special recognition as outstanding actors. The Radium Girls cast and crew will move on to the Regional Theater Festival on Feb. 19. 

“My favorite moments from [the festival] were once we finished [the show] and met up, and the pure joy and celebration—cheering and shouting because we made the timing rules,” Donlan said.
To stay up to date with ITPA, visit: https://www.independencetheatreandperformingarts.com/.