(FAIR LAWN, NJ) -- Old Library Theatre (OLT), Fair Lawn Recreation Department’s resident theatre company, will present Radium Girls, for three performances only, June 23-25. The play, written by D.W. Gregory, fiercely examines the commercialization of science, the pursuit of both health and wealth, the power of the underdog, and the fierce injustice laborers in America have faced, and may even continue to face in the present.
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 also with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire.
Written with warmth and humor, Radium Girls is a fast-moving, highly theatrical ensemble piece with for 18 performers, who play more than 30 parts—friends, coworkers, lovers, relatives, attorneys, scientists, consumer advocates and myriad interested bystanders. Called a "powerful" and "engrossing" drama by critics, Radium Girls is based on the story of the actual female factory workers in Orange, New Jersey.
Radium Girls stars Katherine Reardon as Grace Fryer; Reilly Hacker as Kathryn Schaub; Arthur Carlson as Arthur Roeder; John Fraissinet as Ed Markley; Marisa Dolkart as Irene Rudolph; Bob Russell as Dr. Von Sochocky; Allen Roberts as C.B. Lee; and Kay Koch as Katherine Wiley. Donna Fraissinet, Rebecca Lopkin, Pearl Hart, Natasha Saunders, Melody Appel, Janna Epstein, James Phillips, Mead Winters, Thomas Winkler, and David Leegrand portray the rest of the many characters in the show.
Radium Girls is directed by Beatriz Esteban-Messina, produced by Maritza Puzino and Sam Szentmik. Elaine Enright is the Stage Manager, Sheryl Heffernan-Winkler the Assistant Stage Manager, and Francesca Stokes the Production Assistant. Costumes designed by Julia Sharp, and sound design by Kirk D. Longhofer.
Performances are on Friday and Saturday evening at 8:00pm, with a Sunday matinee at 2:00pm. Performances are held at the George Frey Center for Performing Arts in the Fair Lawn Community Center, located at 10-10 20th Street in Fair Lawn. Tickets are available for purchase online - and are $20 for Adults, and $18 for Seniors. Old Library Theatre is committed to bringing quality entertainment at an affordable cost in Bergen County.
Director Esteban-Messina said “Through the tragic story of the Radium Girls I learned that this was one of the first times in which a company was held responsible for the health and safety of its employees. It led to a variety of reforms, including the creation of the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration. The beautiful and perfectly structured script by D.W. Gregory presents the characters, based on real people, with simple, but precise dialogue that captured their emotions. I have watched all of the rehearsals and still find myself moved by the words. This is not a pretty play, but it is a necessary one. May you, our audiences, be as touched, moved, angered, and horrified as we were while rehearsing and now performing it."
Old Library Theatre (OLT), Fair Lawn Recreation Department’s resident theatre company, is a community theatre organization located in Bergen County, NJ. They want to acknowledge that they are on the traditional territory of the Lenape, the indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands
