RADIUM GIRLS
Springboro Community Theatre
Sept. 11-20
Springboro Performing Arts Center
Directed by Emma Essex
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. Though Radium Girls ranges from 1918 through the 1940’s, the bulk of the narrative is centered on events in New Jersey in the mid 1920’s.
The play highlights Grace, Irene, and Kathryn who paint dials in the U.S. Radium Plant and are instructed to finely point their brushes by molding the bristles with their mouths while painting. The factory’s enthusiastic new owner, Arthur Roeder is an idealistic man and excited by radium’s promising future and the company’s potential for growth. Roeder cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumors could have anything to do with the disturbing streak of illnesses among his employees. The plant tries to keep the girls who are getting sicker from talking to the press, push back their court dates, and deflect any negativity toward the company. As Grace fights for her day in court she finds herself battling not just with the U.S. Radium Corporation, but with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire. Some of the surviving girls finally get settlements and medical coverage for the rest of their shortened lives.
- Fri-Sat, Sept. 11-12 at 8pm
- Sun, Sept. 13 at 2pm
- Fri-Sat, Sept. 18-19 at 8pm
- Sun, Sept. 20 at 2pm
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