Radium Girls

They were told the paint was harmless. They were told they had nothing to fear.

D.W. Gregory's Radium Girls is drawn from the true story of the young women who painted watch dials with radium in the 1920s without being told what it would do to them. It follows one determined young worker who refuses to accept the easy answers as her friends fall mysteriously ill, and who keeps pushing through corporate deception, scientific uncertainty and overwhelming opposition toward a reckoning that would change the American workplace for good. It is heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time, a portrait of hope, resilience and people who would not be made quiet. A century on, its questions about corporate responsibility and scientific ethics have not aged at all.

The production is staged by special arrangement with the Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Illinois. Radium Girls was originally produced by Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey and developed with a commissioning grant from the Ensemble Studio Theatre and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science and Technology Project.

When it plays. Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm on January 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 and 23, plus Sunday matinees at 2pm on January 10 and 17.

Make a night of it. The Barn seats cabaret style at candlelit tables, so bring your own food and drink. Doors open an hour before curtain.

Check before you go. Tickets had not gone on sale and no price had been published when this listing was written. Confirm both on the Barn's page before you plan around it. All sales are final.