Directed by John Pryor
Performances:
September 19 – 21, 2024 at 7:00pm
Sunday Matinee, September 22, 2024 at 2:30pm
SYNOPSIS: 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. Her chief adversary is her former employer, Arthur Roeder, an idealistic man who cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumors could have anything to do with the terrifying rash of illnesses among his employees. As the case goes on, however, Grace 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.
The Characters:
Female Characters:
Grace Fryer – 15 at beginning and then 26 at end. Dial painter in factory. Gentle and placating in nature, uneducated, wants to do what’s right, quiet strength
Kathryn Schaub – 15 at start of the play, ages like Grace. Friend of Grace –dial painter
feisty, outspoken.
Irene Rudolph – 17 at start and then late 20’s. Kathryn’s cousin, dial painter. Fun-loving, ‘giggly’
Miss Katherine Wiley – 20-45 – flexible. Exec Director, New Jersey Consumer’s League. Public speaker, think suffragette – determined, fights for cause
Sob Sister – Nancy Jane Harlan (reporters who specialized in newspaper articles with emphasis on the human interest angle) 20-45 – flexible. Tabloid reporter, New York Graphic
Hustler, competing with male counterparts
Mrs. Diane Roeder – 35-55 overtime. Married to Arthur Roeder Homemaker, upper class, believes in her husband.
Mrs. Fryer – 40+. Grace’s mother. Does like conflict. Doesn’t’ want to make a fuss about things.
Male Characters
Arthur Roeder – 34 at beginning and 65 at end President of US Radium Corp.
More considerate and compassionate than colleagues, family man, conflicted
C.B Charlie Lee – late 40’s, VP and later President of Radium Corp. About sales and marketing – a little on the cold side.
Reporter (Jack Youngwood) – 20-40 flexible. Reporter – Newark Ledger Hustler, after a good story.
Tom Kreider – early 20’s at start and then late 20’s. Grace’s boyfriend. Simple guy – just wants to get married and have kids, doesn’t support Grace’s fight but loves her.
Raymond Berry – 35+ flexible. An attorney for dial painters. Comes across as genuine and concerned but can be swayed
Dr. Joseph Knef – 35+ flexible. A dentist. Direct, no-nonsense, self-interested
Edward Markley – 35+ flexible. Counsel for the Company. Lawyer, patient, practical.
Dr. Von Sochocky – 45+ flexible. Founder of US Radium Corp., inventor of luminous paint
German accent, scientist, conflicted between innovation and consequences.