Theatre Group trip to Radium Girls at Bromley Little Theatre

Theatre group members attended an evening performance by the youth group of Bromley Little Theatre to see Radium Girls. At our performance there was an adjudicator for the Kent Drama Association Festival. The directors wrote that "it is always challenging to find a script for the Youth Theatre which can stretch them, develop their skills and give every member a chance to shine”. Radium Girls has been a popular choice for such groups in the USA but is less well known in the UK.

Set in the USA it was challenging for the young actors to perform with an American accent and also portray the moving true story of the Radium Girls who were factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting radium on watch dials with self-luminous paint. They were told the paint was harmless and were instructed to point their brushes on their lips to give them a finer tip. The girls became sick with awful symptoms such as disintegrating jaws, horrible pains in their bones and death from haemorrhaging. The play follows the girls fight for justice through the courts and their battle with their employers, The US Radium Corporation.

The actors played their parts very movingly with great performances from Rosa Davies playing Grace and Frank Sisley playing Roeder the manager. The set was also very innovative and adaptable and was cleverly moved round by the actors for different scenes.

All in all a very enjoyable evening though a challenging subject was being portrayed and well done to all the young people taking part.

Contributed by Mary Garside