Poster for The Incredible Glowing Woman (hapax theatre website)

I have seen all three of hapax theatre’s shows this year, and am impressed by the quality of the work and the commitment to nurturing local plays and playwrights that Artistic Director Heather Jarvie and Production Manager Chad Laidlaw are demonstrating. All three plays this season are by local women playwrights. This final production is by Ingrid Moore and tells the fascinating and true story of women who were afflicted by radium poisoning due to working with radium paint in a clock factory in America in the 20s and 30s. You can read more about this historical event here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls.

In Moore’s retelling, local girl Ruth meets Anna at the Radium Dial Paint Factory and they fall in love. Ruth has seen Anna aglow with the radiation effects of the paint, and romanticizes this encounter. Ruth’s former lover has died of what the factory claims was syphilis, but as Ruth sickens, the women come to learn that it is the paint itself that is poisoning them. Added to the cast are the factory owner Mr. Kelly (Chris Salt), and Anna’s mother (Wendy Magahay). As usual, director Heather Jarvie pulls solid performances from her four actors, and makes the best use of the small stage space borrowed from Theatre Inconnu. While the pace could have used a bit of a lift throughout, I remained engaged by the story and angered by the knowledge that these women were exploited and discarded by their employer. The workers sued the company and won their case, gaining important labour and safety legislation as a result.

Frozen River poster (from Kaleidoscope Theatre website)

The second show I saw this weekend was a touring production from Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Frozen River. It tells a touching story, narrated by Grandmother Moon (Krystle Pederson), of the friendship between a Cree young girl Okânawâpacikêw (Wâpam) (Keely McPeek) and Scottish immigrant Eilidh (Mallory James). They make a promise to each other to spend the winter with each family. And although Wâpam keeps her promise, Eilidh fails to, leading to the end of their friendship. Jumping forward many generations to the present, we meet modern days versions of these girls, who this time follow though on the intergenerational promise.

There is a lot to like in this production, including puppets and effective shadow and video work projected onto a moon screen upstage. But I did think the show was very talky, leading some small children in the audience to become a bit restless. And although the set works quite well, with a four part modular circular stage that breaks apart to become other things, I wondered why at times these pieces were shown with legs facing the audience. I found this unsightly and for me it lessened the visual impact. That said, director Katie German does a commendable job with the three-person cast and I enjoyed the message of the play, which won the Playwrights Guild of Canada 2021 Sharon Enkin Plays for Young People Award.