Mattingly Niles and Julianne Maloney are gifted student actors who are also passionate about history.
The two senior students at Bridgewater-Raritan High School quickly gained a historical education when they learned in August that the high school’s Fall Play title was Radium Girls.
“I immediately got the book and read it. I loved it,” Mattingly revealed during a recent afternoon rehearsal for the play in the Bridgewater-Raritan High School auditorium.
“We are really into the history of what our play is all about,” Julianne added.
They and Aditi Dhara, a junior at the high school, are the three leading characters in the Bridgewater-Raritan Theatre Arts production of Radium Girls that will be performed on Thursday, December 5, Friday, December 6, and Saturday, December 7, in the high school’s auditorium. The curtain will rise for each show at 7 p.m.
Mattingly plays Grace Fryer, Julianne portrays Irene Rudolph, and Aditi plays Kathryn Schaub in this presentation, detailed below from StageAgent.
Radium Girls is D.W. Gregory’s gripping drama based on the true story of female laborers who were poisoned and killed by their factory’s radium-based paint. Though Radium Girls ranges from 1918 through the 1940s, the bulk of the narrative is centered on events in New Jersey in the mid-1920s.
The play highlights Grace, Irene, and Kathryn who paint dials in the U.S. Radium Plant and are instructed to finely point their brushes by molding the bristles with their mouths while painting. The factory’s new owner, Arthur Roeder, is excited by radium’s promising future and believes in the company’s potential for growth. Roder’s mindset is supported by Marie Curie, the internationally famous scientist, who believes radium provides many health benefits and could even cure cancer.
But soon many of the girls begin to notice disturbing health issues, and one of their co-workers dies, but her death is brushed aside. The plant tries to keep the girls who are getting sicker from talking to the press, push back their court dates, and deflect any negativity toward the company. Some of the surviving girls finally get settlements and medical coverage for the rest of their shortened lives.
Radium Girls fiercely examines the commercialization of science, the pursuit of both health and wealth, the power of the underdog, and the fierce injustice laborers in America have faced, and may even continue to face in the present.
As well as reading the book to gain knowledge, Mattingly sketched the play she sent to her fellow actors.
“We are all friends working together, and that helps,’ Aditi said.
They are also working under the expertise of the Bridgewater-Raritan Theatre Arts Director, Heather Diaforli-Day.
“The Bridgewater-Raritan Theatre Arts hopes that people come and experience the true story of Radium Girls, where factory workers fight for justice after discovering a deadly secret. Witness their powerful struggle for truth and survival in this moving tale of courage,” stated the devoted Diaforli-Day, the Theatre and Music Teacher at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. “The cast and crew are working hard to bring this story to life on stage.”
Ms. Diaforli-Day was attracted to Radium Girls because of the locality of the setting—Essex County—and the lessons that her student actors can absorb.
“I was particularly drawn to this piece because it takes place right here in New Jersey in the 1920s and allows the students to learn about how these characters deal with issues of worker's safety rights,” she said. “They have really been doing wonderful work as they dig into the complexities of their characters and the message of this show.”
Please read below for ticket information, including one complimentary ticket each evening to any Bridgewater-ra Regional School District staff member.
Click this link below and redeem your "complimentary staff ticket" from the options.
Bridgewater-Raritan High School Events and Tickets
Additional tickets can be purchased at the door or with the link above.
Here are those student actors and staff/crew who will present Radium Girls on December 5, 6, and 7.
Sahib Bal
John Csik
Aditi Dhara
Max Dvorkin
Kate Hinton
Julianne Maloney
Sofia Mathew
Nic Molinilla
May Niles
Michaela Opalenik
Natalia Placek
Frank Riina
Uliana Samsonenko
Sohum Shari
Mars Springsteel
Aaron Weinstein
Zoe Weinstein
Student Staff/Crew:
Mia Hassouna
Nolan Brown
Harjas Saini
Ava Hathaway
Tia Sharma
Paige D'Aloisio
Abigail Alonso
Josh Zagare
Casey Stella
Rebecca Puszkin
Sam Porter
Oliver Shoaf
Maryann Martinez
Evan Andrews
Lydia Ruth
LJ Aponte
Sadie Grossman
Sloka Kosaraju
Julia Li
Olivia Strother
Mindy Bui
Kesin Dixit
Briana Popescu
Martim Silvestre
Jordan Velasco
Sinjin NIles
Campbell Maloney
Caitlyn Hoff