Radium Girls
Competition Version
By D.W. Gregory.
Product Code: RD2000
One-act Play
Comedy | Drama
Cast size: 5m., 5w. May be expanded to 30 or more.
Livestream and Record & Stream Rights Available
Rights and availability
This title can be licensed and sold throughout the World.
* Please note the royalty rate listed is the minimum royalty rate per performance. The actual royalty rate will be determined upon completion of a royalty application.
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 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 for 10 actors, 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 offers a wry, unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsessions with health, wealth and the commercialization of science.
Notes
Livestream and Record & Stream Rights Available
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Details
- Status In stock
- Type of Show One-act Play
- Product Code RD2000
- Minimum Cast Size 10
- Pages of Dialogue 53
- Min. Royalty Rate $55.00/perf
- Approx. Run Time 40 min
- Staging Unit set with simple props.
Categories
- Target Audience High School | College and Adult
- Performing Group High School | College Theatre
- Genre Comedy | Drama
- ISBN(13) 9781619590076
Customer Reviews
Strong script with excellent depth of characters. Good historical importance and literary merit.
It was one of the most impactful plays we have had at our school in some time. It's historical relevance and structure really lend to some great theater.
Hints, Tips, and Tricks
It took me forever to find this but if you want a substance that is clear in normal light and only fluoresces in black light search the following on Amazon: “ DirectGlow 1 Ounce Invisible Green UV Blacklight Bottled Ink for Hand Stamping Security Admissions Secret Messages Glow Party."
Focus on the acting. The set can be very minimal. Make sure your costumes, lighting and sound/music are strong.
My theatre design class - working remotely - designed the background projection images for each scene. They were very helpful in communicating the audience the shifts in time and location. This was a wonderful ensemble show; due to COVID restrictions, we chose to keep the ensemble visible through the entire show. Actors wore black masks; those who were diseased due to radium poisoning added a bright green masks over their black mask during the scenes in which the audience learned of their infection.
This worked very well over Zoom. Casting is important, though, as having one actor play two parts in quick succession is less effective when there are fewer ways to show a change in character. Think about casting more actors, or looking at how an actor's portfolio of characters can be more evenly spread throughout the play.
To prepare for the production and for the students to connect more with the characters and story, we watched a short documentary on the radium girls. This helped immensely as the kids were able to play these characters more truthfully.
Production Map
| Location | City | State | Opens | Closes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pearsall High School | Pearsall | TX | 02/27/2025 | 05/29/2025 |
| Millard West High School | Omaha | NE | 03/19/2026 | 03/21/2026 |
| Shanghai Community International School | Shanghai | 04/01/2026 | 04/30/2026 |
Gallery
Radium Girls - Andover High School, Andover, MA
Radium Girls - Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, OH
Radium Girls (Competition) - Lafayette Christian School, LaGrange, GA
Radium Girls (Competition) - Pike County High School, Zebulon, GA
Also By These Authors
Bevan Brunelle, Holyoke High School, Holyoke, Mass.