RADIUM GIRLS
Wed, Mar 09
|Holyoke High School Auditorium
Holyoke High School Theater Company Presents RADIUM GIRLS by D. W. Gregory. In 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage—until the girls who painted them began to fall ill with a mysterious disease.
Time & Location
Mar 09, 2022, 6:30 PM
Holyoke High School Auditorium, 500 Beech St, Holyoke, MA 01040, USA
About the Event
Holyoke High School Theater Company Presents
RADIUM GIRLS
by D. W. Gregory
One-Act Performance followed by a post-show discussion with the cast & crew
In 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage—until the girls who painted them began to fall ill with a mysterious disease. Inspired by a true story, Radium Girls traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she fights for her day in court. Her chief adversary is her former employer, Arthur Roeder, an idealistic man who cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumors could have anything to do with the terrifying rash of illnesses among his employees. As the case goes on, however, Grace finds herself battling not just with the U.S. Radium Corporation but also with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire. Written with warmth and humor, Radium Girls is a fast-moving, highly theatrical ensemble piece for 10 (or more) actors, who play more than 30 parts—friends, coworkers, lovers, relatives, attorneys, scientists, consumer advocates and myriad interested bystanders. Called a "powerful" and "engrossing" drama by critics, Radium Girls offers a wry, unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsessions with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science.