10/23/2023
Upper School Fall Production: Radium Girls, October 27 & 28
All are invited to the US Fall Production of RADIUM GIRLS:
Wednesday October 25 7pm, Open Dress Rehearsal
Friday October 27 7pm
Saturday October 28 7pm
Advance tickets are not required. Free to all!
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. Radium Girls fiercely examines the commercialization of science, the pursuit of both health and wealth, the power of the underdog, and the fierce injustice laborers in America have faced--and continue to face--in the present.
By the end of 1917, one in 5 American soldiers would wear luminous watches. The young women (mostly teenagers) who were hired to paint them used a mixture containing radium, which produced the striking lime-green glow. Radium (discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898) would be called the “greatest find in history” and a “cure-all for just about anything.” The dangers of radium became readily apparent when these young women who painted the luminous watches began to sicken and die. The play reveals their journey to discover not only the cause of their illnesses, but to also seek compensation from the company that was poisoning them. It is because of these young women that future generations of workers would be protected from workplace injury. Though a tragic story, the dial-painters would change the course of American labor history and illustrate many of the Quaker values at the heart of the CFS community.
Though appropriate for all audiences, Radium Girls is a heartbreaking drama about labor exploitation, social justice, and women's rights.
There is no s*x, cursing, or drug use in the play, but it does have themes of death and dying. Common Sense Media rates the film version of Radium Girls as appropriate for ages 13 and up. There is no clear rating for the theatrical production, and some reviews of staged versions claim it is an all-ages show. Please use your best discretion when determining if this would be appropriate for younger members of your family to attend.
For more information please contact Susan at [email protected] or Lisa at [email protected].
Art by Roz Zimmerman.
