Behind the Scenes: Radium Girls Behind the Scenes

From November first through the third, Waukee Northwest High School’s Theater team performed this year’s fall play, Radium Girls by D.W. Gregory, at the Northwest High School Theater. 

Radium Girls is a play primarily set in the 1920s, where young women went to get jobs in factories to sustain their families and were thus exposed to radiation poisoning due to their jobs in the factories. 

The play specifically focuses on a watch painting factory, where they painted watches that glowed for soldiers. The paint that the girls used contained radiation, giving them radiation poisoning, and causing severe deterioration of the hands and jaw.

The play was directed by Mrs. Payton, Mr. Tillotson, Mr. Van Alstyne and Mrs. Stine, with students being student directors, crew leads, actors and other crew members. They all put many hours into the play, ensuring its success as Northwest’s fall play.

The fall play was partially student-run with adult supervision and direction. Thus students were able to obtain roles that were associated with leadership and more advanced or skill-based roles. 

Luca Jenkin was one of the student directors for the play. They spent time staging and running rehearsals during the play’s production.

 “Mainly it was watching and making sure the vision we had for the show was being portrayed accurately. We [wanted]  to convey the story the author wrote, which means making sure their words are taken as intended,” Luca said.

Ella Friedel was one of the stage managers for the play. The stage managers helped ensure that everything ran smoothly. They minimized conflicts and were present for every rehearsal. 

“During the play, the other stage manager, Anya Koehler, called the show, and I ensured that everyone got along and everything went smoothly backstage and in the green room,” Ella commented.

Aiden Berrier was head of set construction and head of run crew for the play. The run crew’s job was to bring out and remove furniture on the stage during blackout scenes, which is when the lights go out between scenes. 

“I ran stage left, so that’s all I can speak for,” Aiden stated, “Those first days consisted of the show being [run] by the actors and me reading along with the script and panicky writing down every cue for a prop or piece of furniture that was needed. Then at the end of the show, I sat with a group of people in [the] run crew, and we translated my crappy handwriting into a Google spreadsheet. From then on, we would set up our respective sides by getting the props that we first move all ready and set for whenever they need to be moved.”