Director’s Note
We have live theatre! We have battled through so many challenges on the way to getting Radium Girls on the stage. Challenges such as: the entire COVID-19 pandemic that included cancelled school and virtual rehearsals, facemasks, and not to mention that this is the first ever fall play produced by SMA. The hurdles that we have vanquished speak to the need for theatre education and its goals. Theatre education is process based, not product based. Meaning, it is about the journey and not the final destination. These students have faced so many problems and shown that they are up to the challenge. They have shown a dedication to their craft that is unparalleled.
Radium Girls has a lot on its mind. No doubt, our students are excited to produce a much more lighthearted show come the spring. However, it is a wonderful play that speaks to how regular people can be treated by the wealthy. It is a play that unflinchingly reflects upon how corporations don’t do what they can to protect workers. It is about the idea that the truth is sometimes much more complicated than we first think and that finding the truth is the most noble and necessary of professions. On a smaller scale, it is the story of one girl’s journey to find her voice. The journey this character goes through holds the entire play together as we jump from factory floors to corporate boardrooms to courthouses.
We have all changed over the past year. The world has changed. But theatre will always be here. Theatre will always show us our flaws, make us laugh, make us cry and hopefully make us think. It is the absolute privilege of the SMA Fine Arts Department to present Radium Girls by D.W. Gregory.
- Mr. William Wright
A Special Thanks To:
Mrs. Sarah Smeltzer Wright
Mrs. Jodi Briggs
The Ball Family
The Osborne Family
The South Family
The Faculty and Staff of SMA
Deals Thrift Mart
