UPDATE: the article originally mentioned incorrect performance dates for the show. The dates have been corrected (9/30 – 10/16).
The Drama Workshop will hold auditions for the play Radium Girls July 9-11 at the Glenmore Playhouse Annex located at 3619 Harrison Ave., Cheviot, Ohio, 45211 (Enter at the building’s rear entrance off of Gamble Ave.) Auditions on July 9 & 10 will begin at 4 p.m. (Doors will open at 3:30 p.m.) On July 11, auditions will begin at 7 p.m. (Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.) Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script.
Inspired by a true story Radium Girls, by D.W. Gregory, traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, as she fights for her day in court against the U.S. Radium Corporation. Grace is a dial-painter, a young woman who paints the dials on glow-in-the-dark watches by using radium-based paint. When Grace and other dial painters develop ailments that could be traced to the radium, they sue the company for compensation to cover their medical bills. But will they ever get their day in court?
According to director Amanda Borchers, “Radium Girls is a fast-moving, highly theatrical ensemble piece for 9 to 10 actors who play more than 30 roles—friends, co-workers, lovers, relatives, attorneys, scientists, consumer advocates, and a myriad of interested bystanders. With such a large number of roles to cover, we will need a cast spanning in age from 18 to 70 years old.”
Rehearsals for Radium Girls will begin August 8. Performances will run September 30th – October 16th.
For more information, go to https://thedramaworkshop.org.
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. Written with warmth and humor, Radium Girls is referred to as an “engrossing” drama by critics. The play offers a wry, unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsessions with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science.