The Baton Rouge Theater tells the story of “Radium Girls” they were painting and made the story – the lawyer

Maybe the girls thought it was cool at first.

They could walk the night streets without worrying about the street lights leading their way because they were the light. People around the city called them ghostly girls because of their luster.

Then came a point where the glitter was not as cool as a girl, then the next – and the next – began to get sick. They worked at the Radius Factory in Orange, New Jersey.

One was 11 years old.

True story

But Theatre Rouge’s Young Actors Program of Theater Rouge will look at this true life story through the eyes of only three Radi Factory girls when it opens “Radium Girls” on Friday at its studio theater, where the scene on the stage is filled with motives for Clock and viewing within the motifs within a gloomy workspace.

The era was for some time between 1917 and the beginning of the 20s. At the center of this story is the Radium Luminous Material Corp., founded in New York in 1914. The company produces uranium of carnotitis ore, after which it eventually moved to the business with the production of radiralness paint.

“It was useful for military efforts during World War I because US soldiers could watch their watches at night without having to use flashlights, which would put them at risk,” said Director Courtney Murphy. “The numbers of the clock are the faces (because they) were painted with radioactive paint.”

And the drawing of these numbers took place at Radium Corp. The company also had places in the cities in New Jersey in Newark and Jersey City, as well as in Ottawa, Illinois and Waterbury, Connecticut.

But this is the orange place that occupies the central scene in Radium Girls, where Grace Fryer, played by Isabella Walton; Irene Rudolf, played by Caris Murray; And Catherine Shab, played by Camille Coco, moves from daily workers to warriors for justice and change.

Provided for its safety

In order to do their job properly, they must create a fine point at the end of their paint brushes by forming the bristles with their mouth.

“They were told to lick their paint brush before they dipped it in the paint,” Murphy said. “They were told that the paint was safe.”

Of course, it wasn’t. The radio paint powder covered their skin, hair and clothes, which reports why they shone in the dark. Meanwhile, the absorbed alpha radium from licking brushes for drawing destroyed their bones from the inside out.

Sounds pretty brutal, right? Well, DW Gregory didn’t promise a lot of story when he told Radium Girls’s experience. However, she made up a lot of human history, which not only traces the experiences of girls, but also who they were.

This raises the question of why would they work in such a situation where something radioactively is probably dangerous?

Well, Marie Curie conducted his own experiments at that time, with the belief that the radium provides health benefits and is a cure for cancer.

“And some people took advantage of it,” Murphy said.

Which means that at that time there was no sense of danger on the horizon. But this would change with the death of one of the girls with radium, followed by the disease of others. Even Curie was suffering from the radius he was experimenting with. She is now questioned in a lead tomb in the Pantheon monument in Paris, France.

The bones still shone

“As for the girls of the radium, their bones still shone in their graves to this day,” Murphy said.

Such incidence was not in the minds of Arthur Roder when he was named President of Radium Company. If there is a villain in this story, it is this.

But he was a reluctant villain. He went into work without knowing the true effect of radium on human life.

“He didn’t really want to be president,” said Gage McGaniel.

The 17-year-old Jr. School in St. Michael plays Roder.

“I think he is in some way responsible,” McDaniel said. “But also, in a sense, he took advantage of this because he was president. He at first did not want this job and he was like this job purely to replace the ex -president. And after he realized that this real He understood, he took advantage of it, it was too late.

“He enters when the company is so successful after making all these watches during World War I,” Murphy added. “But then he has to deal with the huge consequences that is happening. So, he was not responsible for creating the paint, but he makes some bad decisions on how to deal with the situation.”

The girls get sick

As the girls get sick, the company tries to cover their songs and slow down the trial dates. Yes, the case goes to the test thanks to the resistance of Grace Freer.

Isabella Walton, Senior Academy of St. Joseph, playing Grace, had seen a movie about Radius’ girls at a school that partly inspired her to listen to the part.

“It was opening eyes and it was a real life,” she said. “It wasn’t like a fantastic story. I think I was inspired by it, because it’s a chance to tell the story and to be careful about the incident.”

As for Grace, Walton sees her as someone trying to stay in the background at the beginning.

“But she learns to uphold herself,” Walton said.

Grace changes the story

Standing, Grace changed the country’s labor laws. She led the other girls in a case against Radium Corp., which was not a conventional thing for women to do in the early 20th.

After all, it is not a spoiler to say that companies were required to apply the safety rules of their workers – this is history. The true story of this play is the journey of these girls to change the course of history.

“Radium Girls”

Baton Rouge Theater Production

Friday-Sunday and Friday-Sunday, February 14-16. Sunday scientists start at 2 pm; All other performances begin at 7:30 pm.