By Meghan Davis, News Correspondent
Northeastern students will stage a story of corporate greed and deadly glowing paint in the theatre department’s latest production of “Radium Girls,” which opens today in the Studio Theatre in the Curry Student Center.
D. W. Gregory’s two-act play features nine cast members playing 30 different characters under the direction of theatre Professor Wanda Strukus.
“Radium Girls” tells the story of a group of women who contract radium poisoning after painting watch dials in a local factory and decide to take on a national corporation in a legal fight for worker’s rights. Set in 1927, the play is based on a real-life landmark court case that paved the way for workers’ compensation cases nationwide.
“It’s really about this story of these girls who are really on the lowest level of society,” Strukus said. “They’re young, they’re uneducated, they’re women … and they finally get the courage to stand up for themselves and this leads to this watershed moment in occupational health law.”
Strukus said she chose the show after hearing about it from a former student.
“I don’t think people really know about this point in history,” she said. “I think there are a lot of commonalities with our own moment in history. I feel like the issues in the play are still really, really relevant today.”
“Radium Girls” highlights issues in the ethics of business practice and the influence of the media in popular culture. The Sunday show will be followed by a question and answer session in the theatre, which will feature a discussion by university professors on the significance of “Radium Girls” to the legal, media and public health history in the United States.
“One of the things people don’t realize about theater is how interdisciplinary it is,” said Rachael MacAskill, a middler history and theater double major who will play Grace, one of the young watch dial painters.
The show also highlights the historical aspects of the period, especially the developments in science following World War I.
“This show will really show people how interesting history can be” Jenna Stelmok, a senior theater major and cast member said. In addition to playing a customer, a board member, a photographer and Mrs. Roeder, she portrays Madame Curie, who discovered radium.
The production has only been in rehearsal for four weeks – a challenge Strukus said will prepare students for careers in theater.
“In the professional world you don’t have a long time to put up a show,” Strukus said. “It prepares them for what will happen when they get out of here.”
“Radium Girls” does not focus on lead parts but instead represents the development of the group of factory workers as a whole. Stemlok said she enjoys the closeness this has inspired in the cast.
“There’s such a company feel to this show,” Stelmok said. “Everyone’s a part of this ensemble piece.”
Most of the actors play three or more parts. Stemlok, who plays five different characters, said this is the first production where she has had to balance multiple parts. Actors switch between varied roles like factory women, scientists, US Radium Corporation representatives and attorneys.
“It’s difficult because I can’t go as in-depth with each character,” she said. “I just have to focus on distinctive ways to make each character stand out to the audience.”
An upcoming production of “Big Love” is already planned for later this semester and all students interested in theatre are encouraged to audition.
“Radium Girls” will run Feb. 9–16 in the Studio Theatre at the Curry Student Center. Tickets are $13 for students and can be purchased on myNEU.
