Batesville HS Drama Club Presents Radium Girls

Performances are on Friday, November 22, and Saturday, November 23.

Photo provided.

(Batesville, Ind.) - This weekend, the Batesville High School (BHS) Drama Club will present Radium Girls, a play based on the poignant true story from the 1920s of a group of women who seek legal help when the radioactive paint they are using at work makes them ill.

The play follows the lives of several of the women, including chief litigant Grace Fryer, who are hired by a company to painstakingly place radioactive paint on watch faces for the military so they will glow in the dark. Without any protection from the material, the girls are instructed to use their mouths to straighten the tips of the paintbrushes. The radium used in the paint causes the women to become seriously ill. The play shares the struggles of Fryer as she pursues legal recourse against the company for workplace safety violations. American workplace safety law was changed based on the story of these brave women.

Cast members include (in alphabetical order): Jaden Basler, Abi Beaver, Everett Biltz, Adria Combs, Eli Doll, Owen Doll, Levi Essick, Ryan Grossman, Abby Hartz, Sophia Hohenstein, Charlotte Hurtley, Grace Jones, Veronica King, Becca Knight, Allison Martin, Addison McGuire, Emily Merkel, Anna Moore, Makenna Moore, Gail Obermeyer, Zeke Obermeyer, Henry Peters, Abby Raab, Grace Saner, Alysun Simon, Matthew Skinner, Shanna Smith, Vince Wilson, and Jenna Zimmerman. Tech Crew includes: Mason Cunningham, Matthew Lambert, Henry Laymon, Winston Lecher, Alyssa Mauer, Carlee Steinkamp, and Jon Spreckelson. Members of the Set Crew include: Dreyden Bolser, Zach Gerdowsky, Charlotte Harmeyer, Winston Lecher, Katie Moenter, Brayden Weiler, and Tanner Young. The play is directed by Batesville Middle School language arts teacher Lisa Barnett. Set crew is managed by BHS art teacher Andrea Grimsley, and tech crew is overseen by BHS English teacher Alison Vitolo.

Performances are on Friday, November 22, and Saturday, November 23 at 7 PM in the BHS auditorium. Tickets ($8 adults, $5 students) are available at the door. Seniors will be recognized after the Saturday evening performance. Patrons should enter via Door N in the rear of the building.