The end of the world has come to a tiny theater in the East Village. Set seven years after an explosion and a wave of sickness that caused a near wipeout of the world’s population, “RADIO MAN” is a devastatingly quiet look into humanity as three girls attempt to survive.
We start with two sisters: Helena (Mia Angelique) and Mary Grace (Rachel Arianna). Between a makeshift tent of string and mismatched fabrics, water pails, and a desolate rock ground, they are doing just enough to survive. Their dynamic is a dystopian version of a classic older and younger sister pairing. Helena is strong, bossy, yet guarded—something we learn early on is a new shift in her, caused by a man who assaulted at the last camp. Mary Grace is innocent and naive—in a sometimes endearing, mostly confusing and inconsistent way—that Helena can’t even explain what the assault was. Instead, she gives a clear instruction: if someone gets on top of her sister again, Mary Grace should take the kitchen knife and kill them.
The show faults itself in trying to explain too much early on, in conversations between the sisters that feel out of place for seven years into them trying to survive together. It’s far more interesting to see them chaotically and desperately eat their bits of dinner than to talk in platitudes about the sickness and explosions.
Instead, the introduction of another character, Vera (Sophie Falvey), threads the needle. With a stranger, there’s a need to explain and introduce yourself. What you do and don’t say is just as telling. Mary Grace, like a five year old—even though she’s supposed to be 14—is much more trusting and willing than Helena, who takes a lot of convincing to let Vera stay with them.
Besides Vera’s introduction, there’s little more in the show in terms of plot. That’s not a knock on its construction; instead, it allows us to sit with these characters in a nebulous future. What’s most compelling are their conversations—not the big generalizations about how their life now compares to before, but why they choose to keep living now. Why do they keep trying to survive with no promise of a better future, or a future at all? Why, in this state of utter despair, do they still feel an obligation to one another?
It’s helped these questions are articulated deftly by Angelique and Falvey, their older characters quickly bonded by their sense of responsibility. Angelique masterfully opens up Helena, moving from an on-guard leader to an outburst of emotions; Falvey listens to Helena’s thoughts of suicide and the story of the assault with a wired, laser-focused stare that builds chemistry without saying a single word.
Their desire to tell stories to one another, to communicate to keep them going, contrasts with the radio on the campsite that plays one channel: a man who has been talking to himself on the airwaves, to no listeners he knows of, for five years. Their shifts in and out to listen to him often feel more contrived than necessary, but they are effective in building to the show’s core lesson: how connection moves them from just surviving to actually living.
The best moments come when the logistics of the world become the background soundtrack, and instead we focus on how this way of living affects the everyday frequencies of these girls’ minds. When they share those innermost thoughts, the world opens up.
Just when we wonder if we will be in a purgatory of nothingness with them forever, a final-act twist brings it all to head quite beautifully and horrifically. Any generic conversations and repeated points pay off sickeningly.
And for that, unlike in this sad world, perhaps there is hope: for well-performed theater to haunt us like an always-on radio.
How to see “RADIO MAN”
“RADIO MAN” runs at Paradise Factory through May 10th.
How I found out about it/how I got tickets: I was invited by the playwright, Sarah Groustra, to attend! Thanks Sarah and team :)
How to get cheap(er) tickets: General Admission tickets are $35, while priority seating is $50.
Get tickets and learn more here.
In Other Theater News…
Many theaters have announced their 2026-2027 seasons in the last few weeks, including New York City Center—which runs one of my favorite theater series, Encores!.
Encores! are concert stagings of American musicals that heavily feature the New York City Center orchestra. They’re only two-week runs, which means they get a ton of big stars on stage at once. I’ve seen literally dozens of incredible stars do these shows, and they have $28 tickets if you’re under 40.
Next year, they’ll be doing “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown”, “Hallelujah, Baby!” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” I’m most excited for the first—I know the music but have never seen a production—but time will tell as the casting gets announced.
Yet the highlight of the announcements is a three-week production of “In the Heights” coming this fall. And they’re giving away 10,000 tickets priced at $28—in person, in Washington Heights. You can learn more fill out an interest form here.
And thus begins a week of five arts-related performances to see. Happy Monday!