Auditions for Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Theatre’s spring production of These Shining Lives by Melanie Marnich will be held on Sunday, January 19 and Monday, January 20 at 7 PM in the Uptown Theatre.

Roles are available for a range of ages but actors need to be at least 18 years old. There are main roles for four women and two men; smaller roles may be filled by three women and two men. No preparation is necessary. Kami Zbanek Hill is directing.

Questions may be addressed to [email protected].

These Shining Lives is a fictionalized account of the real life “Radium Girls” of the 1920s and ‘30s who painted watch faces with radioactive paint that glowed in the dark. The play centers around four women who work in the Radium Dial Company factory in Illinois and are exposed to toxic and deadly levels of radiation. Their story of bravery and determination to create better workplace conditions and safety regulations is an important but not widely known chapter in the social history of our country.

American playwright and television writer Melanie Marnich is best known for her work on HBO’s drama Big Love and the Showtime series The Big C.

Characters

• Catherine Donohue (F) a worker at the factory
• Charlotte (F) a worker at the factory
• FRANCES (F) – a worker at the factory
• PEARL (F) – a worker at the factory
• Tom Donohue (M) — Catherine’s husband
• MR. REED (M) – The overseer of the factory

Ensemble Roles

• DR. ROWNTREE – He extols the benefits of radium to cure common illnesses
• LEONARD GROSSMAN (M) – A brash lawyer
• COMPANY DOCTOR – a pawn of the Radium Dial Company
• RADIO ANNOUNCER –makes a performance out of selling radium to the public
• DAUGHTER – Catherine’s daughter
• SON – Catherine’s son
• DR. DALITSCH – An incredibly honest doctor
• JUDGE – Appears in the courtroom scene of Catherine’s trial versus the radium dial company
• REPORTERS 1 & 2 – Speaks outside of the courthouse during Catherine’s lawsuit. They provide the opinion of the public