Behind The Curtain: A Preview of Radium Girls with Guest Director Elaine Vaan Hogue
This fall, Concord Academy’s Performing Arts Department will take audiences on a journey through time with the fall mainstage play, Radium Girls. In an interview with CA, guest director Elaine Vaan Hogue provided insights into the production.
Set in the early 1900s, the play recounts the plight of young girls who worked at the U.S. Radium Corporation in Orange, N.J. Employees painted watch dials with luminous radium-based paint, resulting in severe health issues. At the heart of the true story is Grace Fryer, played by Lira Schwab ’26, a courageous young woman who fought for accountability against the corporation despite her terminal illness.
Vaan Hogue is a professional actor, teacher, and director who resides in Central Massachusetts. At its core, she says, Radium Girls is “a story about a young woman advocating for workers’ rights.” The issue is just as relevant today, she emphasized, with warehouse employees making headlines as they seek to unionize under unsafe conditions.
In 2009, Vaan Hogue directed a full-length professional production of Radium Girls at the Boston Center for the Arts Calderwood Pavilion, Wimberly Theatre for the Boston University School of Theatre, and had the chance to meet and collaborate with the playwright, D.W. Gregory.
For this one-hour adaptation, Elaine is adopting a cinematic approach, presenting the narrative through a series of short vignettes featuring an ensemble cast of 14 students. “Many of the actors play multiple roles, adding an element of doubling to the casting, which is part of the fun of the play,” Vaan Hogue says.
While working with the student actors at CA, Vaan Hogue highlighted the importance of fostering a collaborative spirit. The cast features both newcomers to the stage and seasoned participants in the theater program. Vaan Hogue aims to create an inclusive environment. “I wanted to bring together a group of people who would embody a spirit of generosity in working together,” she says.
This collaborative approach extends to Vaan Hogue’s partnership with professional designers. She worked with Performing Arts Department Manager and multidisciplinary CA teacher Jessica Cloutier-Plasse on the versatile set.
“I was interested in a very simple design that would allow the play to flow briskly from scene to scene,” Vaan Hogue says. The scenic design evokes the essence of a factory, incorporating large steel pillars and a clock painted on the floor of the set to symbolize the passage of time.
The director also worked with costume designer Elizabeth Rocha to create period clothing that allows for quick changes—such as adding a hat or a vest—reflecting the fast-paced nature of the play. To round out the production, Vaan Hogue also joined forces with sound designer and CA performing arts teacher Nate Tucker and lighting designer Duncan Davies.
In rehearsals, Vaan Hogue often allows students to run a scene independently while she observes, stepping in afterward to provide constructive feedback. “Don’t hold back,” she encouraged in one recent rehearsal, urging the actors to fully embrace the emotion of the moment.
As the students dove deeper into their roles, the energy in the room shifted. On the second take, the scene came alive, the characters feeling more authentic and powerful. The growth CA’s student actors are experiencing is palpable, and Vaan Hogue’s insights have continued helping them refine their performances and make each iteration stronger.
With its inventive staging and heartfelt performances, Radium Girls promises to illuminate the struggles and triumphs of those who dare to fight for justice. As Vaan Hogue told the student actors, “If we put our full spirit and heart into the play, it will move an audience too.”
Get your tickets for Radium Girls as part of Family Weekend: Friday, October 25, at 4:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, October 26, at 1:00 p.m. To learn more about the history behind the play, read the book The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore.
