These Shining Lives

These Shining Lives, a play by Melanie Marnich, chronicles the true story of four women working for the Radium Dial Company in 1920s Illinois. Lured by high wages, they paint watch dials with radium-based paint, unaware that the paint is poisoning them. The play focuses on their fight for justice, dignity, and survival as they refuse to let the company destroy them, ultimately impacting labor laws. While the characters and company in These Shining Lives are fictitious, the story of the Radium Girls and the toxic and deadly levels of radium poisoning of over 4,000 factory workers is true. The real-life Radium Girls took their company to court and achieved a long-lasting victory over corporations with poor workplace conditions and workers’ compensation that is still in effect today.

Purchase tickets here:

• Thursday, November 12
• Friday, November 13
• Saturday, November 14