No Refund Theatre (NRT) returned to Forum 111 following winter break this week with its production of “The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the Moon Marigolds.”

Taking place in the United States in a cluttered and run-down home during the 1970s that used to be a vegetable shop, the story follows the Hunsdorfer family: Beatrice, or Betty, a narcissistic, short-tempered, and alcoholic widow. Ruth, the flighty older sister, suffers from panic attacks and has been institutionalized. And lastly, Matilda, or Tillie, the younger sister is an overly-shy 12-year-old outcast who loves science and her beloved rabbit, Peter.

The show opens with Tillie on stage petting Peter, and a recording of Tillie’s voice plays in the background. It’s a monologue about Tillie falling in love with atoms after her science teacher, Mr. Goodman, starts a lesson on nuclear radiation. The monologues in the play are a bit cryptic, but each revolves around Tillie’s awe and wonder of science and earth’s creation.

Tillie’s actress, first-year Natalie Savastio, found herself connected to the young scholar.

“I love this play and how personal it’s become to me. Because, to me, it’s just so very raw,” Savastio said.

The opening scene has a perfect portrayal of the main host of characters. It’s established that Beatrice heavily dislikes Mr. Goodman, frequently bars Tillie from going to school, and is generally a deadbeat mother, belittling Tillie to strangers while she’s in the same room, giving Ruth cigarettes in exchange for back rubs, and threatening to kill Peter with chloroform.

Beatrice’s cruelty is further cemented by the recurring character of Nanny: a frail, nonverbal, and almost blind elderly woman for whom Beatrice works as a caretaker. Beatrice frequently screams at Nanny, loudly patronizing and laughing at her declining state.

The story revolves around Tillie’s new science experiment, marigold seeds that were exposed to radiation and how they end up growing and possibly mutating. Coached by Mr. Goodman, Tillie dedicates all of her time and energy to tending the flowers and preparing to enter her discoveries into the school science fair. Each act has a new development in the experiment, so the audience gets to watch the flowers grow from seeds to flowers to a full tri-fold poster board display.

Ruth acts as a somewhat typical older sibling, initially teasing Tillie’s quirky interests and fearing being associated with her at school after Tillie’s first school presentation of radiation turned her into the class outcast and laughing stock. Later, when Tillie’s project gets chosen as one of the top-five finalists for the fair, Ruth shows true pride and support of Tillie.

Beatrice, on the other hand, remains apathetic and cruel to her daughters’ accomplishments, being shocked after hearing Ruth was capable of applying herself in school and even shaming Tillie for doing well in the science fair as it put the family in the spotlight where their lower economic status can be seen.

The climax of the story is when Beatrice and the girls fight over who goes with Tillie to the final round of the science fair. At this point of the plot, it’s become known that Beatrice, an alum of Tillie and Ruth’s high school, possibly didn’t have the best high school experience. Beatrice explodes at the girls and sends them to go on without her.

The next scene is a great composition of two very different events. While the science fair takes place in the light on the left side of the stage, it’s intercut with Beatrice post-fight crying, drinking in the dark, and then getting a burst of energy to somehow restart her life.

Following her scientific rival, Janice Vickery, whose presentation is on a boiled, reconstructed cat skeleton, Tillie presents her findings on the marigolds. Ultimately, the flowers with little radiation grew normally, the ones with moderate radiation grew double blooms and giant stems, and the highly-radiated flowers died. Tillie’s monologue was perfect in representing her passion and hope for science and an increased sense of self.

Following the fair, the girls return home to a disheveled home and spaced-out Beatrice. The future for the characters is vague as it’s unclear where the family’s tumultuous relationship will lead. However, the play ends with a moving final monologue from Tillie. She concludes that she wants to continue pursuing science and that the marigold experiment made her feel important for once.

The show’s director, Charlie Plante, interpreted the ending as bittersweet, describing Beatrice as someone who wants so badly to change but isn’t ready to.

Where the show shines is easily the depth of its characters and relationships to one another. Beatrice is an especially tragic and pitiful antagonist who has lots of nuance and dimension behind her actions.

The complexities of Beatrice were beautifully portrayed by Judith Oller.

“Her intentions aren’t the best and her methods are obviously not great, but she’s just a regular lady. She just wants her kids to like her, she’s sad with where her life didn’t go,” Oller said.

Sophie H-M, who portrayed the fiery Ruth, similarly had to focus on bringing her multifaceted character to life.

“She’s been really challenging for me in a weird way. There’s so much about me that I see in her,” H-M said. “On the surface, you can just see her as this odd-ball older sister, but I think there’s a lot more depth to her that if you really sit with the show.”

The play was created by Staten Island native, Paul Zindel who took notes from his own unstable home life when writing the script. The play initially premiered off-Broadway in 1970 and later won a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1971.

“I related to [the show] heavily as a kid,” Plante said. “Ever since I saw it, it kind of stuck with me.”

True to life, “The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds” is an authentic and realistic insight into the cruel reality of some complicated family dynamics. Yet despite its harsh story beats and dark subject matter, flowers continue to bloom and progress is made.

Folks can catch the show at 9 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, and 8 p.m. on Friday, January 26, and Saturday, January 27, in 111 Forum. As always, tickets are free of charge.