Review: The Goat Exchange Presents "Radio Bette" at Gaiety Theatre

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The Goat Exchange deconstructs All About Eve in a live radio play illusion at the Gaiety Theatre for Dublin Theatre Festival 2026.

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By turning Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s cinematic masterpiece into a live Lux Radio Theater illusion, The Goat Exchange has created a meta-theatrical thrill ride. Staging a live 1951 radio broadcast complete with headsets, period sponsor breaks for Lux Flakes, and visible sound gear, the production makes replacement and artifice its core formal language. The result is a double-vision spectacle: watching the iconic narrative of ambition unfold while observing performers build and destabilize it in real time.

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The production’s cleverest stroke lies in using understudy mechanics as a live structural engine. This framing mirrors the central plot of All About Eve , echoing that iconic Phantom of the Opera moment when Christine Daaé steps out of the chorus to sing "Think of Me." As Eve sheds her unassuming front and claims the spotlight, the understudy device amplifies her sweet, calculated hunger, turning a story about substitution into a live, unpredictable event.

Co-directors Chloe Claudel and Mitchell Polonsky orchestrate a sharp visual progression, evolving from a plain table-read setup to golden drapes and classic Hollywood glamour. Sound designer Mitchell Polonsky constructs an exceptional audio landscape, where radio static, commercials, and announcer framing keep the formal trickery exciting, complemented by a local nod to Ireland that lands delightfully at the performance. The uncertainty over whether the cast is lip-syncing with micro-precision, recreating audio live, or shifting between the two remains one of the performance's chief pleasures.

The ensemble navigates this tightrope with total commitment. Marcus Amaglo commands the stage as Bette Davis / Margo Channing, delivering absolute diva force, dramatic volatility, and vulnerable anxiety without falling into flat impersonation. Chloe Claudel shines in the ingénue register, playing Eve’s sweet devotion against a subtle, dangerous ambition. Michael Cerveris anchors the frame with composed authority as Addison DeWitt.

Radio Bette lets its themes of power, female ambition, and identity resonate through camp, playful, and mischievous energy rather than heavy-handed lecture. It is a wildly clever, story-first festival triumph.

Radio Bette ran at the Gaiety Theatre as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2026.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/ireland/article/Review-RADIO-BETTE-at-Gaiety-Theatre-20260927)._