By Anastassiya Khvan
College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY—UCA Theatre will present Radium Girls by D. W. Gregory in the Bridges/Larson Theatre of the Snow Fine Arts Center.
Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29, 30, Nov. 5 and 6 and at 2 p.m. on Oct. 31.
The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint at the United States Radium factory in Orange, N.J., around 1917. The women were told to lick their paintbrushes to give them a fine point. However, they were not warned about deadly chemicals contained in radium, so when the factory workers became sick, they did not know the real cause.
Inspired by a true story, Radium Girls traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she sues her employers for being exposed to radiation.
Chris Fritzges, assistant professor of theatre and the play’s director, said that Radium Girls is a play that is “moving, thought-provoking [and it] offered a lot of great opportunities for our students to work on it.”
“I think that audience will be, hopefully entertained, but [also] moved by what Grace goes through in the play,” Fritzges said.
UCA junior Sidney Stoner, who plays Irene, Miss Wiley, Board Member #2, and Mrs. Michaels in the play, said that Radium Girls is an emotional show that is both fun and challenging to perform in.
“It’s a fast-moving show that will take you on a roller coaster of emotions,” Stoner said. “It’s so much fun and a challenge to get to perform four different characters in one show.”
Tickets are $10 for the general public and free to the UCA Community. Reservations may be made by calling (501) 450-3265 or by visiting UCA Ticket Central, located in the Reynolds Performance Hall box office. More information is available online at www.uca.edu/theatre or by contacting Melissa Kordsmeier, UCA Theatre business manager, at mkordsmeier@uca.edu or (501) 450-5092.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Communication, Mass Communication and Theatre, Music and Writing. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.
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