Radium Girls
at Freedom High School

Reviewed on November 21, 2015

Corinne Kleinman
Wakefield School
Submitted for publication to Washington Post - Loudoun

From the moment the curtain rose on Freedom High School's production of "Radium Girls," the audience knew that time was of the essence. As a giant watch face loomed down and a clock ticked in the background, three dying young women fought for justice and compensation against a company bent on protecting its interests and hiding the truth.

D.W. Gregory, a local playwright, based her script on the true events of workers in a New Jersey watch-making factory who made history in the struggle for labor rights. To produce tiny luminous numbers on watch faces, the workers – most of them teenage girls and young women – used their lips and tongues to mold the tips of their paint brushes. By doing so, they ingested large quantities of the paint – and of radium, the paint's glow-in-the-dark component. In the early 20th Century, radium was believed to be a panacea that could even cure cancer. However, as the audience soon learned, radium is horrifyingly dangerous, leading to many gruesome complications and eventually death.

As tragedy hung over them, the trio of doomed girls – Brittany Harris (Grace), Sierra Orr (Kathryn), and Alix Jackson (Irene) – ever so casually built a lighthearted atmosphere destined not to last. Although the girls were already living on borrowed time, and the audience knew it, the actors' sparkling lines, laughter, and a focus on the details of their lives only foreshadowed the devastation on the horizon. Sierra Orr, particularly, committed to creating a deeply touching, resonating character, as her changing posture and voice tracked the progression of her illness.

In the meantime, Nathan Handberg (Roeder), a proper businessman, remained focused on how to make money and grow his business, only to discover that his Radium Corporation was based, however innocently, on a horrendous toxin. He and Allistar Smith (Mrs. Roeder) stood out emotionally when they were fighting; the two really came into their characters and displayed the tangled mess that Roeder's life had become.

Ariana Pettis and Alyssa Hudenburg (the two reporters) added a bit of comedy, if only for a moment. With catty glances and a clear rivalry between them, the two definitely had fun with their roles. Other rays of sunshine that lightened the atmosphere were Kate Pilkus (Mrs. Michaels) and Scott Rogers (Lovesick Cowboy); their over-the-top characters earned laughs despite limited time onstage.

Time was an element that played into all aspects of Freedom High School's production, including the set, lighting, and slideshows. Although the set appeared simplistic, the three levels and multiple small stages allowed the cast to perform many congruent scenes at once. The mood lighting enriched the scenes; the light radiating from the backdrop – lushly painted, appropriately, with an enormous clock-face – helped the actors get into their characters' emotions. On each side of the stage, a slideshow lit up during scene changes and provided some astounding photos, context, and information about radium.

Although sometimes the characters' lines were a bit unintelligible, and sometimes the play's energy lagged, the cast performed this emotionally difficult play with sensitivity and respect.

Time may have run out for Grace and the other Radium Girls, but with performances like Freedom High School's, the sacrifice of those young women in the struggle against corporate greed will never be forgotten.

Laras Kettner
McLean High School
Submitted for publication to Washington Post - Loudoun

America in the 1920s was a scene of economic prosperity. Growing factory establishments and new technologies aided in the commercialization of science and fed yearnings for good health and wealth. It is during these times that Freedom High School's production of "Radium Girls" takes place, telling the story of a conflict that questions the authenticity of health regulations. Freedom High School dramatizes a newsworthy event that was influential to the safety of workers in the workplace and the labor rights movement.

"Radium Girls," written by D.W. Gregory, is based on true events that occurred at the U.S Radium Corporation at Orange, New Jersey. The play takes place in 1926 and describes the story of Grace Fryer, who worked in the factory and died from radiation poisoning. The girls worked in an assembly line and painted watch dials in luminous paint. To keep their paintbrushes at a fine point, they would lick them, and during the process, consume fatal amounts of radium. The play has been well received worldwide since its 2000 premiere at the Playwright's Theatre in Madison, New Jersey.

Grace (Brittany Harris) is a charming girl who dreams of the day when she will get married and have children of her own. Harris embodies Grace's innocence with Bambi-like expressions and romantic descriptions of what the future will hold. Roeder (Nathan Handberg) is the head of the U.S Radium Corporation. Handberg indicates Roeder's power in his rigid, upright stance, and his tendency to look down on people.

Kathryn (Sierra Orr) is a close friend of Grace who also falls victim to radiation poisoning. Orr used vivid expressions and wild hand gestures to give the audience insight into Kathryn's person. Orr also demonstrated exceptional character development, showing the juxtaposition between Kathryn's character at the beginning of the play until her tragic death.

The show involved a huge cast with many different ensembles. One outstanding ensemble was the three radium factory girls, consisting of Grace (Brittany Harris), Irene (Alix Jackson), and Kathryn (Sierra Orr). The girls established a strong connection that was very natural. Their animated expressions and ringing laughter as they gossiped while working contributed to the belief that they were close friends. Although there were a few characters in the cast that did not project their voices enough, making it difficult to hear them, the majority of the cast had clear voices that suited their characters.

The set was well-done, and the crew made a good effort to use the whole stage effectively. The costumes were also satisfying and accurate for the time period. There were many technical aspects of the show that aided in describing the story. The lighting, in particular, varied in color to reflect the mood of the scene. Despite microphone hitches that were at times distracting, the sound effects provided appropriate background for the scenes.

"Radium Girls" describes the utter indifference in corporate America to issues concerning health. The final scene of the play captures the essence of the horrible tragedy that radium has caused. In the end, employer and employee stare out at the audience side by side, their grim expressions revealing that worker conditions must change in the future.

Mary-Margaret Chalk
Langley High School
Submitted for publication to Patch.com - Loudoun

"Those people will say anything. They'll do anything. Except the right thing" -Radium Girls

Imagine that the latest scientific breakthrough promised cures for fatal disease, was important for technological innovation and was processed by hundreds of employees everyday, but was soon found to be deadly. Then imagine that the business leaders in production and sales of this breakthrough chose to ignore their knowledge of these dangers, leaving their employees in lethal ignorance. Finally, imagine that these shocking scenarios were once a reality. In Freedom High School's production of Radium Girls, the consequences of greed in business and oblivion in science are unveiled through the heart wrenching story of factory women in the 1920's.

Written by D.W. Gregory, the play is based on the true story of the Radium Girls, who were significant in making progress towards worker's rights in America. The young women have the job of coating watches with radium paint so they will glow in the dark, and, not knowing how unsafe exposure to radium was, constantly licked their brushes to keep the tip fine and played with radium on their skin to see themselves glow. The promising futures of these women takes a turn, however, when one by one they each start to become extremely sick. Grace, the central character, fights a legal battle with her employer and corrupt doctors, who claim the radium from the factory has nothing to do with the women's illness. Along the way, the radium poisoning manages not only causes physical decay, but brings on the deterioration of her family life and future she once dreamed of.

Creating the initial mood of the show, the stage was first illuminated with single spotlights and intense fog accompanied by an ominous ticking sound of clock that represented both the job of the factory women painting clocks, and the time quickly passing as the women's illnesses increasingly worsened. Two reporters who stood on opposite sides of the stage moved the plot along through periodic broadcasts which provided insights into the public's reaction to the Radium Girls' actions against their workplace.

The devotion of the actors was essential to the show's success. Grace was played by Brittany Harris as a sweet-natured and hopeful young woman, which evoked sympathy in her trials against her boss, Mr. Roeder, (Nathan Handberg) who depicted a moral dilemma as he learned of the dangers of radium. Grace's fellow factory employee, Kathryn (played by Sierra Orr), showed unmatched passion in her determination to fight the factory. Although some cast members struggled with consistent acting choices, Orr was able to emulate strong feelings of loss. Also notable was Mr. Berry (Andrew Hazlett), the lawyer on the case for Grace. He showed commitment in gestures and reliable vocal projection, which was lacking from some other cast members.

Amid the chaos of legal trials and worker's rights, was a cohesive, multi-layered set that reached its full potential through intricate lighting techniques and special effects with fog. While a few costumed contradicted the 1920's theme, the time period was well captured through images of factories, newspapers and more projected on screens adjacent to the stage during smooth set changes.

While this story took place long ago, today we continue to stand for worker's rights worldwide. Freedom Hill's production of Radium Girls reminds us to be determined to stand for what is right, because the fight could ultimately change the future.