Grayslake show highlights factory workers challenging the system

Grace Fryer may not be well known, but her effort to take on the corporation that caused her to become seriously ill was historically significant.

Grayslake Central High School will present her story, "Radium Girls," at 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday, Sept. 27, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28.

Fryer became ill painting watch faces with radioactive radium paint for the U.S. Radium Corp., based in Orange, N.J., around 1920. To keep the brushes sharp, the women would put them in their mouths and lick them to a point.

As Grace gets sick, she and four other workers, dubbed the Radium Girls, sue U.S. Radium Corp.

"She really wants to fight for what she believes in because she does not believe it is her fault," said senior Emily Mensch, who plays Fryer.

Grace won't let anyone stand in her way, including her fiance, Tom, played by junior Richie Starzec. That leads to difficult decisions for Grace, such as breaking up with Tom. Starzec said Tom knows he is losing Grace and the breakup is coming but wants her to focus on their life together as she focuses so much on making things right.

"He is trying to sell that he will devote the rest of his life to her. Sadly he knows the rest of his life will go longer than hers at this point," he said.

Junior Ryan Bowers plays Arthur Roeder, head of the U.S. Radium Corp. Up until the end, Bowers said Arthur believes his company is not the cause of the women's illnesses. The company doctors blame the illnesses on syphilis in order to taint the plaintiffs' reputations.

Kevin Collins later plays two doctors that study and bring the news to Roeder that radium is hurting the women.

"No one ever considered that it could be the radium. Back then, they thought radium was a miracle cure," said Collins, a junior.

Bowers said his character changes from the corporate jerk to one who is sympathetic to the women and feels horrible about what has happened to them.

"When it finally comes out, it's tough for him to come to terms with it. He has to live up to what he has done," he said.

Director Patrick Kerr said Fryer's story received intense media coverage. The case was one of the first in which employees sued their employer, although Kerr adds the women did not get much money.

"They did not get nearly what they had asked for. They ended up settling. The girls, the quality of life they had was so bad, it was really nothing," he said.

Kerr said while the story comes from the 1920s, society is not too different today. People cling to the next trend without thinking about long-term consequences.

Near the play's end, Bowers said the story introduces the next big thing, as a character lights up a cigarette.

"We don't understand everything. So we can't assume that we're always doing the right thing," he said.