Lee Theatre to perform Radium Girls
It is 1917 and glow-in-the-dark clocks and watches are all the rage. Companies hire hundreds of young women to paint the dials with the chemical radium. The women are instructed to touch the tips of brushes to their lips to bring them to a fine point. They are told that this practice is perfectly safe.
“Little did they know that was going to be a great physical detriment,” says Anna Marie Brendel, assistant professor of theatre.
What follows is a tale of corporate greed, legal battles, female solidarity and an intense fight for justice.
This is the true story of the “Radium Girls” and Lee Theatre is performing it this fall.
Brendel, a 2020 Lee alumnus, is directing this two-act play. She calls “Radium Girls” an “honest to goodness ensemble piece” with most actors playing multiple characters.
“We're going to be putting on a hat and being one person and then taking off a hat and putting on a scarf and being another person. It is highly theatrical. It's very fast paced and everybody is doing something all the time, so that is both a joy and a challenge,” says Brendel.
A theatre and pastoral ministries major, freshman Emma Wilson is playing the protagonist in her first production with Lee Theatre. Wilson plays Grace Fryer, a young woman who paints dials for the United States Radium Corporation.
“She's only 15. She's this young girl that works hard, loves her family, and wants to support those around her,” says Wilson.
Fryer begins the story as optimistic and naive, but that changes when she and her friends get sick. She goes on a powerful arc, maturing through the challenges she and her friends face. Wilson enjoys portraying this journey.
“That place of being broken apart is where she finds her voice for justice. Getting to build that up and make that such a forward piece of it is really beautiful and wonderful,” says Wilson.
Nolan Mann, a junior psychology major, plays Arthur Roeder, president of the radium corporation. Mann has been involved in several Lee Theatre productions, having most recently played the comedic role of Sergeant Rough in “Gaslight.”
Mann says that Roeder is unlike any character he has ever played. As president, Roeder believes in the positive impacts of radium. He faces a moral dilemma when his workers’ declining health proves otherwise.
“He's the antagonist, but he's a complicated moral character … He has to choose between his business moving forward or his own personal morals,” says Mann.
The characters, conflict, and plot all create an impactful story. Brendel believes that the story still resonates with audiences, even 100 years after many of the real events took place.
“There's humor and comedy, but there's also this sense of youth individualism that is very prevalent throughout the story, and yes, it's delivered in a bit of a theatrical way, but it really does justice to what happened and can also introduce a new generation of people to [it],” says Brendel.
Mann hopes that audiences will enjoy the show, while also wanting them to understand the deeper messages.
“I always say that I hope the audiences will come to a show and leave the show thinking … I hope they will leave this show with a greater respect for theater in general, but also a great respect for the unsung heroes of history,” says Mann.
Hurry up and grab your tickets for a jaw-dropping theatrical experience. “Radium Girls” will run Nov. 6 - 7 and 12 - 14 at 7:30 pm in the Dixon Center. Tickets are available online at Eventbrite and at the Lee Theatre Box Office located in the Communication Arts Building. The play is recommended ages 10+ for serious content.
McKenna Denton made contributions to this article.
Images Courtesy of Lee Theatre.
