The show will go on with “Radium Girls” streaming
David SwankThursday, Oct. 22 will be a first for Alicia Tafoya, director for UCO’s presentation of “Radium Girls” the play will be streamed as well as having an in-person audience at Mitchell Hall Theatre.
The presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. and be live streamed at https://streaming.uco.edu/. It will then be rebroadcast simultaneously with the play on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday. The stream will also feature closed captioning.
“Radium Girls” is based on a true story about young women, specifically Grace Fryer and her friends, who were poisoned while painting watch dials with radium paint while working for the U.S. Radium Corporation.
The play can potentially feature more than 30 actors and actresses, according to Tafoya, who is also an assistant professor of theater arts. But this production is making use of a smaller cast — partially as a precaution because of the pandemic.
The theater department worked with University Productions to develop a method of delivering the play while maintaining social distancing and other COVID-19 precautions. Tafoya said those precautions are an “intrinsic challenge to tell a story. ”
There are a total of nine actors and actresses in this presentation, with three swings, who can fill any role should a performer have to back out. The stage has a three tier platform and each performer has their own cube of space.
Through the use of lighting techniques each performer is able to switch elements of their wardrobe to signify their change of role.
Tafoya said since the performers “bodies are instruments,” catching COVID-19 could be career-ending.
Tyler Abbott, a junior theater major, said rehearsal was challenging with cast members having to “drop out due to quarantine.” However, he did say that the live streaming shows that people “can have live theater during COVID.”