RADIUM GIRLS - A Play in Two Acts by D. W. Gregory

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 with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire.  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.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  Radium Girls is a work of historical fiction.  Although it is based on events that occurred in and round Orange, New Jersey, between 1918 and 1928, the characters and incidents portrayed here have been shaped to serve the drama.  Certain characters are entirely fictitious and others are based on multiple individuals.

Originally produced by Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey and developed with a commissioning grant from The Ensemble Studio Theatre / Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science & Technology Project.

Founded in 1928, John Bapst serves day students from over 30 towns across the region as well as boarding students from around the world. Last school year, John Bapst was honored by the College Board’s AP HONOR ROLL as a Platinum School – one of only two schools in Maine with that designation.

Over the past five years, graduates have gone on to attend 26 universities ranked by The Times of London among the Top 100 World Universities, including Harvard, MIT, Yale, Columbia, NYU, Penn, McGill, Johns Hopkins, Chicago, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, Emory, Georgia Tech, UC-San Diego, Stanford, and the University of Washington.

With more than 300 students taking art, music, or drama each year, it’s no surprise that at John Bapst art and music are considered major subjects, and that graduates go on to top music and art programs.

More than 50% of John Bapst students are involved in a JV or varsity sport. Over the past ten years we’ve had teams go to the playoffs and state meets in a wide range of sports: field hockey, football, soccer, cross-country, basketball, cheering, ice hockey, swimming, tennis, track and field, and others.