From Nov. 2 to 4, Sage Hill’s Theater Program put on four showings of its Fall Play, “Radium Girls,” written by D.W. Gregory and directed by theater teacher Mary Kildare.
“Radium Girls” follows the true story of radium-dial factory worker Grace Fryer (played by Liesel Hartmann), as she and several colleagues mysteriously fall ill. Upon discovering radium poisoning as the cause of their illnesses, the women gather to sue the factory, in particular, U.S. Radium Corporation President Arthur Roeder (played by Grant Franey), for endangering their lives. They ultimately reach a settlement outside of the court, but not before dozens of workers had died and even more permanently disabled from the radium poisoning.
Personally, I really enjoyed “Radium Girls.” It was my first time seeing a play based on a true story, and I felt a deep connection to all the characters on stage. Having gone in with little to no background knowledge on the radium crisis, the opening scenes caught me up quickly with its dialogue and reporter interludes.
One of my favorite features of the play was the glowing, dial-clock floor with blurred hands, as if in motion. Each time the lights faded out at the end of a scene, the image on the floor would remind the audience of the passage of time and how the main characters were dying before our eyes. It created a sense of helplessness and closed the distance between the audience and cast that usually accompanies such scene transitions.
For me, the most moving part of the play came in the final scene, when Arthur Roeder, in a stiff and broken voice, professes that he can’t remember the faces of any of the women who died. Immediately after his statement, members of the cast walked past the audience, carrying a printed black and white photo of the real Grace Fryer. Having just witnessed a dramatized version of her life, seeing her photo felt like a way of paying tribute to her struggle and suffering.
The story of the Radium Girls is proof that humaneness and justice still have a play within a society of capitalism and corporate greed. Even when the world was against them, the Radium Girls spoke out about the dangers of radium poisoning, sparking a revolution that saved lives down the road from this lethal substance, once acclaimed a “miracle cure.”
