CHICAGO—There was a time in our country when women stayed home and raised their family—they didn’t vote or drink or smoke, and few held jobs that paid decent money.
Melanie Marnich’s true story These Shining Lives tells of some women who did find decent pay at that time.
Now playing at The West Studio at The Raven Theatre Complex, These Shining Lives tells of some women who, in the 1920’s, took jobs with the Radium Dial Company of Ottawa, Illinois. Their job was to paint the glow-in-the-dark numerals on faces of watches and clocks. World War I soldiers loved the fact that these watches allowed them to never be in total darkness. Soon everyone wanted one.
These young ladies were highly paid for their piece work, and the work was easy: Wet the brush in your mouth; dip the brush in the radium powder and paint the numerals—that was all! The team enjoyed each other’s company, and they were earning more than they could have anywhere else.
Directed by Rachel Walshe, this story tells the of the price paid for good fortune. Catherine (a strong and heartwarming performance by Rebecca Spence) is a wife and mother who lands a job at Radium Dial and is teamed with three other ladies: Charlotte (Justine C. Turner) who wants the same rights as men; Frances (Jessie Fisher) miss “prim and proper;” and Pearl (Ashley Neal) the jokester of the group.
We trace their lives over a 10-year period. We watch them become friends. We watch them as they each find themselves getting ill and having physical problems regularly, with no apparent explanation. We watch them try to find out what has caused their ailments. Only later do they find out that they have radium poisoning from ingesting the powder they were assured was harmless. Then we watch them go through the steps to stop this company from harming more women as they take the matter to court and win (but lose their health and lives).
This 90-minute trip through some little-known Illinois history is handled extremely well by this cast of players. In addition to these fine actresses, two actors handle all the male roles: Ron Wells, plays their supervisor, Mr. Reed; the company doctor who assures them that an aspirin will suffice; as well as their lawyer who wins the case. Sean Cooper handles Catherine’s husband Tom, as well as some other characters.
The only flaw in this production is that the ladies wore the same clothes over ten years and we, as an audience, could not see that time had passed.
The cast and story covers a lot of ground on a small stage, but the intimacy of the story matches the set by Jessica Kuehnau. Lighting effects by Diane D. Fairchild set the moods. In particular, at the ending of the play, photos of these workers and others in their predicament poignantly fill the stage.
These Shining Lives
Rivendell Theatre Ensemble
The Raven Theatre Complex, 6157 N. Clark Street
Tickets: 773-334-7728
or online at www.rivendelltheatre.org
Closes: Jan. 31
Alan Bresloff writes about theater in the Chicago area.
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