The Winneshiek Playhouse will be holding auditions for These Shining Lives, on July 22 and 23, 2019 at 7 PM, with scripts available to read at 6 PM.
No advance prep. Reading from script.
These Shining Lives, by Melanie Marnich, will be directed by Dawn Degenhardt.
Mandatory Performance Dates: September 20, 21, 27 at 7:30 PM and September 28, 2019 at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM.
Mandatory set strike September 29, time to be determined.
These Shining Lives follows the compelling stories of the “Radium Girls”, young women in the 1920’s and ’30’s who painted the faces of luminous watches and clocks with radioactive paint. Set in Chicago and Ottawa, IL, home of the Radium Dial Company, the play deals with the true story of Catherine Donohue, who begins working at the factory with the excitement of a newly liberated woman entering the workforce in 1922. It then follows her life through her cancer diagnosis and the litigation she pursued against Radium Dial into the late 1930’s. This transcendent story interweaves aspects of labor law, social and women’s history, and the personal details of the “Radium Girls” lives.
Characters (5 women, 3 men)
Women (all the female characters begin the play in their early 20’s)
Catherine Donohue: Independent and strong, she is a wife, a mother of two young children, and a worker at Radium Dial factory. She leads her co-workers in the lawsuit.
Frances: Worker at Radium Dial. Puts up a moral front but is more tolerant than she lets on.
Charlotte: Worker at Radium Dial. Outspoken and hard-boiled, but underneath kind-hearted.
Pearl: Worker at Radium Dial. Sweet and supportive, she is the “joker” of the group.
Ensemble role: Radio station singer, reporter, doctor, judge, etc.
Men
Tom Donohue: Ages from 20’s to late 30’s. Catherine’s husband. A construction worker who adores his wife and supports her decisions, albeit grudgingly at times.
Mr. Reed: 30’s – 40’s. The women’s boss at Radium Dial. A pawn of the company.
Ensemble role: Grossman (Catherine’s lawyer), radio station announcer, doctor, reporter, judge, etc.
Freeport, Illinois
The Winneshiek Playhouse, home of the Nation’s oldest continuous all-volunteer community theater, is located at 228 West Clark Street in downtown Freeport, one block north of free municipal parking.
For information about this and other commuity theater activities
call 815-232-7023 or email info@wplay.org
