Radium Girls

As a middle/high school drama teacher for the past 25 years, I just wanted to let you know that my drama class at Towle Institute, Wilmington DE. fell in love with "Radium Girls". My students made a connection with Grace the heroine of the story. All the character's were remarkable. The fact that the character's were real people that you could find on the internet astonished them. Knowing that the U.S. Radium Company was real and not far from Delaware in Orange NJ. They couldn't get over how a company could put so many young women in a situation where the only outcome was death, and live with themselves. We had an outstanding production and I would be proud to direct this show again in the future. The audience was moved to tears and applause. We did this production in 2015, but I am just now writing to let you know about it.

Cheryl Shields, Towle Institute, Wilmington, Del.

Incredible script and an important story to tell. Staging can be as easy or creative as you wish. Roles are all well characterized.

Lori Zyla, Parkersburg High School, Parkersburg, W. Va.

Powerful drama with a wide range of roles and flexible casting options.

Jarrod Townsend, Williams Field High School, Gilbert, Ariz.

An amazing show that blows the audience away. Although it is challenging to perform, the content and message are worth exploring.

Lisa Bodden, St. Gregory School, Tucson, Ariz.

Radium Girls is a beautifully constructed and moving play. This show is a wonderful vehicle for actors of all levels; the roles are challenging and performers must work to the best of their abilities to bring them to life. Audiences were moved and left speechless as the house lights came up. Parents commented that this is a great show for students as they must research and work with such mature material.

Joey Chavez, Santa Fe High School, Santa Fe, N.M.

Radium Girls was one of the best shows we could have chosen to train our actors in serious dramatic roles. We were able to convey an important social message to our audience without being heavy-handed because of the intricacies and detail of the script.

Drama Director, James W. Robinson, Jr. Secondary, Fairfax, Va.

Though historical in nature, the play provokes an audience to consider the implications of American consumerism and the corporate "bottom line" mentality. Our production elicited laughter, tears and gasps of dismay, which speaks highly of the script's resonance with a contemporary audience. The play is a great vehicle for developing strong ensemble acting from a group of committed actors. We cast 20 actors to play the nearly 40 characters.

Mike Solomonson, Northland Pioneer College, Holbrook, Ariz.

Very well received by our audiences and a great acting challenge for my students. I must tell you of our success in presenting Radium Girls at a high school theatre awards event. We won Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Featured Performer; and I know a great deal of the success was due to the quality of the play itself!

Jacklyn Keagy, Dover Area High School, Dover, Pa.

Radium Girls provides a compelling story and great opportunities for character study and research. The actors took their responsibility as storytellers quite seriously and the audience was moved and intrigued by this point in history. A great choice for our school audience and actors.

Emily Blackburn, The Overlake School, Redmond, Wash.

This was a great experience! Cast, family, and community were blown away by the story and performance. A great play for social distancing in performance.

Jeff Sams, Franklin High School, Franklin, Ohio

Wonderful show! Clever writing. Tells the story of the Radium Girls from behind closed doors which allowed the actors to explore the characters' humanitarian side and the complex struggles that each character endured. Well balanced and tells a story that is important to American history.

Christina Chun, Consumnes Oaks High, Elk Grove, Calif.

This was a great script for a high school show. The audience was riveted by the story and wanted to learn more. It had some great dramatic scenes for kids to really show of their acting skills and provided a lot of roles of varying sizes, which made casting easy.

Amanda Brown, Intrinsic Schools, Chicago, Ill.

Radium Girls is a powerful production covering the women who used the radium pant on watch dials in the 20s. The struggle between money/image and doing what is right is forefront.

Melissa Blankestyn, PORTA HS, Petersburg, Ill.

Wonderful play with great challenges for the student performers and stage crew. The playwright was very helpful and open to answering all our questions.

Paul Doniger, Pomperaug High School, Southbury, Conn.

The audience was really taken with the fluid transitions from scene to scene and they all learned a great deal about a very important story. The flexible casting makes this show ideal for high school since you can feature your strongest actors and give beginners a chance to get their feet wet in the smaller parts.

Laura Whalen, Cary-Grove HS, Cary, Ill.

Because we were performing this during the pandemic, we had a small socially distanced audience and live-streamed it. The intimate nature of the performance really ended up being a plus for us. We focused more on the story and less on the set and such. I loved the simplicity. It was beautifully moving.

Karen Dean, St. George's Independent School, Collierville, Tenn.

I initially chose this show because I could have a large cast (important with high school performances). It ended up being the perfect show for us during this pandemic. We had a small cast which got even smaller due to quarantines. All the parts were able to be covered and performing with masks wasn't a hinderance.

Sara Heacox, Coopersville High School, Coopersville, Mich.