Foothill College Theatre Arts presents D.W. Gregory’s “Radium Girls,” with performances set for Friday through June 12 in Los Altos Hills.
Inspired by a true story, the play is set primarily in New Jersey during the 1920s, when radium was seen as a miracle cure, Marie Curie was an international celebrity and luminous watches were the latest rage. It’s also when the young women who used radium to paint the dials of the watches began to fall ill with a mysterious disease.
“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 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, Grace finds herself battling not just with the U.S. Radium Corp., but with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire.
Tom Gough directs a cast featuring Caitlyn Kyong (as Grace Fryer), Kayli Smith (Irene Rudolph), Sydney Harmon (Kathryn Shaub), Matt Brown (Arthur Roeder), Ronald Feichtmeir (Edward Markley), Andre Leben (Charlie Lee) and John Musgrave (Dr. Von Sochocky).
Tickets are $25 general admission, $20 seniors (65 and over) and $15 for Thursday shows ($10 for students). A $3 fee is added to each ticket, which must be printed at home.
Performances are scheduled 7:30 p.m. Thursdays (after this week), 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays in the Lohman Theatre at Foothill College, 12345 S. El Monte Road. Parking Lot 8 provides easy access to the theater; no parking pass is required.
All audience members must present proof of vaccination, with matching ID, and wear a mask.
For tickets and more information, call (650) 949-7360 or visit foothill.edu/theatre/productions.
