The film establishes the craze for radium occurring at the time, with scenes showing the substance being promoted as a miracle cure and advertisements for the healing properties of such products as “radioactive water.” They have been instructed to lick the paintbrushes to produce a finer point, a seemingly innocuous habit that, unbeknownst to them, will ultimately prove fatal, as does the propensity of some of them to also paint their faces and nails with radium after work hours. The two young women - whose older sister, who also worked at the factory, died three years earlier - are part of an all-female workforce earning minuscule wages by painting radium on watch dials to make them glow. The story, which features both real-life figures and composite characters, begins in 1925, when sisters Bessie (Joey King, who proved her acting bona fides with her Emmy-nominated turn in Hulu’s The Act) and Jo (Abby Quinn, After the Wedding) are working as “dial painters” at the American Radium Factory in Orange, New Jersey. Although its low-budget cinematic execution feels a bit lacking at times, the film fulfills a vital function with its dramatization of an important chapter in America’s history of labor reform. Despite taking place in the 1920s, Radium Girls feels particularly relevant in these times when the current administration has devoted itself with a passion to rolling back protections for workers. Contact with questions.You can feel the urgency fueling Lydia Dean Pilcher and Ginny Mohler’s historical drama about a little-known, shameful episode in our country’s past. The show is approximately one hour with no intermission. Seating will be at 50% capacity (approximately 60 seats). Actors will be at 12 feet away from audiences. Ticket Cost: Donation-based (Suggested donation $5-$10)ĬOVID Protocols: Masks are required for everyone (actors and audience) regardless of vaccination status. Explores sensitive topics related to medical trauma and death.ĭates & Times: Thursday, Nov. Note: This production is most suitable for ages 12 and up. 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. Radium Corporation and her employer, but also her family and friends who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire. Written with warmth and humor, Radium Girls traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter fighting for her day in court and contending against not only the U.S.
An ensemble work inspired by true events, Radium Girls takes place in 1926 when 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.
TheatreUNCA returns to the Carol Belk Theatre for their first seated in-person performance of the season with Radium Girls directed by Aubrie Holcomb ‘22.
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