Radium Girls
By D. W. Gregory
Directed by Wendy Golter
Audition Dates
July 19 2:00 – 4:00; July 20 6:00 – 8:00
Auditions are held at Valley Performing Arts.
Performance Dates
October 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays with pick-up rehearsals on Thursdays
Synopsis
Radium Girls is a work of historical fiction. It is based on events that occurred in and around Orange, New Jersey, between 1918 and 1928. It tells the true story of female factory workers who were poisoned by radium-based paint used on watch dials. The play highlights Grace, Irene, and Kathryn who paint dials in the U.S. Radium Plant. The factory’s new owner, Arthur Roeder, is excited by radium’s promising future and believes in the company’s potential for growth. Marie Curie and other scientists believe radium provides many health benefits and could even cure cancer. The play follows different characters on both sides of the problem through the legal and medical issues as they try to solve the mystery of what is happening to the girls.
Audition Information
We’re looking for 9 actors (5 women and 4 men) for this ensemble play. 7 of the actors play multiple roles. One female character has a French accent; one male character has a German accent. During the audition we would like everyone to be prepared to recite a minute’s worth of something – a monologue, words to a song, a poem, anything you don’t have to read. We’ll also have some improvisation and cold reading. The improvisation is to see where your imagination takes you, the cold reading will help us visualize you as different characters, and the recitation should show us what you can do with words when there is not a script in your hands. If you would like to read the play a copy of the script will be at the VPA office for checkout.
Rehearsal Information
We plan on rehearsing from the end of July through September, working mostly in the evenings.
Characters
Radium Girls Cast
All but two of the actors play multiple roles.
ACTOR 1:
GRACE FRYER - A top-notch dial painter, 15 at the start of the play, 26 at its close.
ACTOR 2:
KATHRYN SCHAUB - Grace’s friend, another dial painter, also 15 at the start of the play/
BOARD MEMBER #1 / SHOP GIRL / SOCIETY WOMAN - Mrs. James (Cora) Middleton, a well-bred
woman. / HARRIET ROEDER - Daughter of Arthur and Diane, off-stage nine-year-old voice at
first, later she is onstage in her 30s.
ACTOR 3:
IRENE RUDOLPH - Kathryn's cousin, 17 at the start of the play. Later she is in her 20s /
MISS KATHERINE WILEY - The executive director, New Jersey Consumer's League. / BOARD
MEMBER #2 / PHOTOGRAPHER / MRS. MICHAELS - A consumer of Radithor.
ACTOR 4:
SOB SISTER (NANCY JANE HARLAN) - A tabloid reporter, New York Graphic. / CLERK - An over-
worked public employee. / ELDERLY WIDOW / ANNA FRYER - Grace's mother/ MRS. ALMA
MACNEIL - The factory supervisor.
ACTOR 5:
DIANE ROEDER - Married to Arthur Roeder / DR. MARIE CURIE - Discovered radium, French
Accent / CUSTOMER / BOARD MEMBER #3
ACTOR 6:
C.B. "CHARLIE" LEE - Vice president, later president of the company / DR. CECIL
DRINKER - A Harvard industrial hygienist / WILLIAM J.A. BAILEY - An entrepreneur,
manufacturer of Radithor / FREDERICK FLINN, Ph.D - Columbia University industrial
hygienist. / MALE SHOPPER / COURT – a judge / LOVESICK COWBOY
ACTOR 7:
TOM KREIDER - Grace's boyfriend, several years older than she / REPORTER (JACK
YOUNGWOOD) - A reporter for the Newark Ledger / RAYMOND BERRY - An attorney for the dial
painters. / DR. JOSEPH KNEF - A dentist
ACTOR 8:
EDWARD MARKLEY - Counsel for the company. / DR. VON SOCHOCKY - Founder
of U.S. Radium Corp., inventor of the luminous paint. German accent. / Store Owner /
Venecine Salesman / DR. HARRISON MARTLAND - The county medical examiner.
ACTOR 9:
ARTHUR ROEDER - President of the U.S. Radium Corp., 34 at start of the play, 65 at its close.
THE TIME: The 1920s.
THE PLACE: Orange, New Jersey.
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