Character Study- Radium Girls

Candidate Declaration - I confirm that the attached portfolio is all my own work and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself.

 Within this project, I am honoured, yet challenged, with developing myself within two large personalities within this final project, both of which focuses on encapsulating and addressing my final set of skills within my acting capabilities I would like to stretch before venturing onto further education; these character being the headstrong puppeteer behind the technicalities of the legal case of the radium girls, known as Miss Katherine Wiley, which acts as a character whom of which focuses primarily in her stage presence in order to establish not only the feminist concepts of her character, yet also the story with clarity, especially throughout the latter act of the two act play- a skill which I did not initially set out to develop within this, however I believe that refining this specific ability within my acting portfolio could serve as a backbone for future acting ventures, but also the wife to the main male voice within the play: Mrs Diane Roeder, who serves as my venture into the further development of onstage chemistry within the cast, especially in a romantic connection, as well being used as a method to question whether a woman is what she makes for herself, or what if she is simply a reflection of her husband’s image, which the play begins to challenge when Arthur Roeder’s image begins to deplete due to his scandals throughout the duration of the play.

  Both women within the play act as pivotal support towards both the female and male protagonist respectively; Katherine Wiley, the lead of the New Jersey Consumers League, acts as the crutch for her client- radium girl, Grace Fryer- to use to support her transition her pleas for justice from the company into the realms of the legal system, making a point throughout the duration of the play to act as an anti-patriarchal concept, which runs within most of Gregory’s narratives rooted within American history: they focus on the triumph of women throughout history within a system that specifically designs for them to fail and obey- which is portrayed through Wiley’s demeanour and how it shifts throughout the various settings within the play, using it to simultaneously intimidate the higher masculine powers within the play whilst manipulating the public into seeing her as the face of exemplary 1920’s womanhood, whilst openly opposing the typical values of being a woman that had been cemented over the prior decades- she stands as proof of her prospects throughout the show, that playing to the public’s interest can lead to the undermining of any power which the public fund, especially when talking of her tactic of ‘public sympathy’- which I must aim to portray the duality of her personality, both the stage presence of a lawyer, yet the compassion of an independent single woman within the 1920’s. Despite this,  the other character which I must portray within this project almost acts as a foil to that of Katherine Wiley, that being the wife to the male ‘protagonist’ Arthur Roeder; Mrs Diane Roeder acts as the concept of traditional womanhood, reflecting the outdated expectations of women before the leading surge of rights for women within the 1920’s- and, most importantly, the flaws within the system of a woman being nothing more than an extension, or mirror, of her husband- as shown by Mrs Roeder’s decline within her social circles as Roeder begins his descent into complete corruption as his actions are brought to the public light: though she has no say in these decisions, she is still seen as responsible in the eyes of the public and subsequent becomes condemned- a woman whom follows the strict standards within society and essentially gave up her personal womanhood in the name of a man who had ambition as his folly and an unfathomable amount of power to misuse, essentially showing that Diane Roeder and Katherine Wiley are two sides of the same coin. I must portray this highly delicately- Diane Roeder never shows regret to the life she chose, yet she still condemns Arthur whilst still holding a flame for her love for her husband; I must humanely acknowledge the conflict that Diane Roeder faces, whilst still remaining within her role, not out of oppression but by choice- showing her as loyal rather than an oblivious fool; all whilst containing most of the melodramatics until pivotal moments in the play, in order to strengthen the impact of her doubt and opposition to her husband.

  In order to create the correct ambience within each characters environments, I aim to focus on the characters aims within the scene, rather than the significance of the location- especially for that of Mrs Diane Roeder, who is always situated within the Roeder household throughout the majority of her stage time, perhaps to signify her place as a housewife and as a mere extension of Roeder and his name (despite this, within the play, she is mentioned to be a member of the ‘Women’s Club Civics Committee’ for ‘years’, however she is never physically seen within this club- as it’s treated as most women who joined these clubs at the beginning of the 20th century, simply a way to better your family’s image). Ambience within Mrs Roeder’s scenes shifts throughout the duration of the play, with a familiar welcoming and jovial tone which I have been able to emulate within previous projects, however, this projects requires a lot less of a caricature of a typical 20th century family, and rather a realistic, yet somehow idealistic perspective to a 1920’s housewife and her daily environment; not only to show a streak of normality for Arthur Roeder’s human nature other than his otherwise villainous and selfish actions within his business practice, but to show the drastic juxtaposition in Diane Roeder’s demeanour as the Roeder legacy and image begins to crumble and slip between her fingers within her scenes in Act Two; in order to demonstrate this more cheerful tone, it must come from her playful interactions with Roeder himself: in response to being teased on using Roeder’s power as a company president to give a man in need a job, she states ‘It has its advantages’- a simple enough statement, which needs to portray not only her slightly non-perfected personality, that is the public expectation (foreshadowing her suppressed headstrong tendencies which begin to resurface later within the play), as well as her comfort and trust with her husband, in order to be able to slightly separate from the picturesque image of a ‘typical’ woman. This ideaology, however, and ambience within the Roeder household, is shifted to a new focus, as the affects of Roeder’s downfall begins to seep into his family name rather than himself as an individual, which begins to cause conflict and a disturbed twist to the original atmosphere of the Roeder household, however, not completely deteriorated- to signify that not only there is a slither of an opportunity for the situation to be defused before serious damage happens to the physical health of the Roeder family and those within their social bubble, as well as the delusional outlook Arthur Roeder has towards the whole situation in front of his wife, showing that he is attempting to distance himself and his actions from his family, which has failed to address the issue, causing a rift which constantly forebodes throughout the household, especially between Mrs Roeder and himself; this ambience shows that Roeder’s self conceited prospects of ignorance being bliss causing harm to his family, without him knowing the full effects (with the irony leading to the indefinite proof later within the play that the radium he persuades his wife to ingest will kill her)- and the true challenge of this piece comes from expertly navigating the conflicting yet fragile emotions within this scene; attempting to balance all of Diane Roeder’s frustrations without anger, trying to salvage her last fragment of her image which she needs to give herself purpose, and- most crucially- not letting everything fall apart for my character too easily, not rushing each wave of emotion she feels; the irony within this scene writes itself, as the use of indulgent pauses and slower pacing will serve to add to the tension of how little time the Roeder legacy has left to have any chance of redemption, which makes it all the more tragic when it is unsuccessful later within the play, in which we never see Diane associated with the Roeder name again. Within the later portions of this segment within the script, I must focus on the headstrong nature of Mrs Roeder, and truly forefront the foreshadowed hidden personality she has during the more frustrating moments of her and her husband’s argument- making use of Chekhov’s principle of implementing a smaller element from the beginning of the show, in order for it to play a larger role later on- in this instance, being the subversion of her character stereotype of a femme fatale, thoughtless caricature of a woman, which leads to drastic, permanent character development over the span of a lengthy scene; this development isn’t due to any change in how she has ever acted before, it’s just so happened it has reached a point within her character journey where the only form on separation and humanity she can have from the Roeder name is through her own personal resistance behind closed doors- this does nothing to improve herself in the public gaze, or even an attempt to manipulate her image socially, it simply serves as the last grasp on humanity that she can grip onto while standing by her husband’s side.

  On the contrary to this, Katherine Wiley demonstrates her independence through the vast amount of appearances she makes across a variation of locations throughout the play, therefore her demeanour and the atmosphere she pull into the scene is not a case of her specific location, yet rather one of a duality of factors within the context of the scene, with Wiley either being in a situation of public address, or an intimate interaction between those she works with on the case; which is a balance I must articulate within Wiley’s first major scene within the play- having this duality of her character be challenged and clearly presented to the audience from her first presence within the show, being at the closing of Act One; Wiley’s first presence within the show must foreshadow her presence as an opposition to the traditional view of a woman, without the negative connotations of being an obstacle, similar to other feminine roles presented within the play up until this point- Katherine Wiley is the first authoritative woman within the play to aid the case of the radium girls, rather than contribute to their neglect or refuse to see them in any regard other than replaceable numbers that affect their stock- whilst also being a respectable woman without having to conform to the typical form of being under a man’s ownership (essentially making her act as Gregory’s promotion of the positive ideals of this social change), which means I must portray Wiley as a woman with clear vindictiveness within her demeanour, without making it become so overbearing that she seems unapproachable, leading to the public presentation of Wiley to act as a presenter- putting enough emphasis on the right words which can manipulate away from the fact that she goes against the social standard of ‘womanhood’ and focus on the logic within her words; the tactic which the more sly powerful characters within the play use, foreshadowing Wiley abusing her power to be able to manipulate the superior outcome for her clients, ands most importantly- to what is going to serve the most effective form of justice; I must stress the vindication of how she carries herself, and be able to implement her unshaken confidence and presence, especially whenever in a public setting. However, he poise changes slightly when in a more private experience with a scene partner, leaning into the more sensitive side of her character, still without stressing the melodramatic aspects of empathy that I do for that of Mrs Roeder; rather than going to overly emotional side of her empathy, I must centre her in a way that shows her logic will always be at the forefront of her interest, whilst simultaneously not subtracting from her humanity, much like the Achilles’ Heel of the other faces of business and power within the show- her humanity makes her, yet it doesn’t become her- which are ideologies you see transfer into Grace Fryer herself throughout the latter half of the production, which causes Fryer to keep her determination due to the learnt behavioural patterns of Wiley; in order to portray the more nurturing side of Wiley, I must make a point to truly invest the entirety of her physique into the conversation when a duologue scene takes place, especially between herself and Grace within this same scene, using her body language to show the more bold aspects of her character, leaving room for a less brash tone, in order to allow for a more personal experience between Wiley and her scene partner, opposed to her lecturing persona, which is constructed to feel as inclusive to as many people who can hear as possible.