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RADIUM GIRLS Edited Script

PROLOGUE: THE ABANDONED FACTORY, 1949

The old dial-painting studio in the U.S. Radium Corporation factory,

late 1940s. Grit on the floor—tables and chairs askew. An elderly man
in a trenchcoat [ARTHUR ROEDER] enters. He takes in the sight, pauses
to right a chair. Draws his finger across the dusty surface of a
table. Looks about, perplexed.

HARRIET
(off) Papa?

ROEDER
Over here

(HARRIET ROEDER enters. She observes her father.)

HARRIET
What are you doing?

ROEDER
This is where I saw her last.

HARRIET
This is morbid, Papa.

ROEDER
Her last day at the dials. The other girls threw her a little party.

(Sound of giggling girls.)

ROEDER(cont’d)
Thirty to 40 girls on the floor...

(An echo of a voice, distant: “Grace, over here ... ”)

ROEDER(cont’d)
And me ... watching over them.

(GRACE FRYER enters, ghostlike, with a tray of dials. ROEDER sees

her.)
 2

HARRIET
We shouldn’t be in here. This building’s been condemned.

ROEDER
And that business with the brushes? I didn’t invent that. It was Von
Sochocky’s process—his invention.

HARRIET
It was years ago, Papa.

ROEDER
People blamed me for that, but I wasn’t the technical man ... I had
my shareholders to think about.

(GRACE turns and looks at ROEDER accusingly. Four loud ticks of the
clock.)

SCENE 1: U.S. RADIUM CORP. AND HOTEL BALLROOM, 1923

(A light shift, and the abandoned factory bursts to life as ROEDER

hands off his coat and hat to HARRIET—in who crosses off. He observes
as MRS. MACNEIL, KATHRYN SCHAUB and IRENE RUDOLPH enter with trays of
dials and paint. CHARLIE LEE enters with a clipboard. He consults with
ROEDER. KATHRYN and IRENE approach GRACE—she displays her ring finger.
They respond with excitement; the men are amused. MACNEIL crosses and
claps her hands—the girls obediently go back to work. ROEDER hands the
clipboard back to LEE as the scene in the factory freezes. Light shift
again as ROEDER crosses to address the audience as shareholders of the
U.S. Radium Corp.)

ROEDER(cont’d)
Gentlemen. We stand today at the threshold of a new era. An era of
ingenuity. An era of possibility. Marked by the marriage of commerce
... and science... Radium, my friends, is the fruit of that marriage.
And like the automobile before it, like the telephone and the
telegraph, this miracle element began as a novelty—and is now a
necessity of daily life.

(The crowd erupts in thunderous applause. ROEDER acknowledges it.)

ROEDER(cont’d)
Luminous watches, luminous dials—these were agents of victory in
Europe! Now radium is about to become the agent of a new victory. The
coming victory over cancer.
 3

(More applause. ROEDER nods. The speech is over. DANIEL LEHMAN, the
company chemist, enters as LEE crosses to join them.)

LEHMAN
Arthur! What a day!

ROEDER
Dan. What did I tell you? They love us.

LEE
Did you see Von Sochocky? White as a sheet.

LEHMAN
He’s here?

LEE
Back of the hall.

LEHMAN
I’m surprised he had the nerve.

(KATHERINE WILEY approaches.)

ROEDER
Hold on, boys. (To WILEY, with genuine warmth.) Miss Wiley! What a
nice surprise. Charlie, Dan: you remember Miss Wiley. Of the
Consumer’s League?

WILEY
Gentlemen.

ROEDER
Miss Wiley was our valued partner in last spring’s laundry crisis.

LEHMAN
Miss Wiley! No more complaints I hope? From the housewives in Orange?

WILEY
The laundry is fine, thank you, Dr. Lehman.

LEE
Ought to be—we spent a lot of money on those filters.

WILEY
The fact is, I’m here on that other matter.
 4

ROEDER
(with less cheer) Your letter. This is not the best time, Miss Wiley.

WILEY
I was hoping you might answer the immediate question—

LEHMAN
(jumping in) I’ll answer it: There’s no white phosphorus in the
paint, Miss Wiley.

WILEY
But the young lady’s condition ...

LEHMAN
There’s no white phosphorus anywhere on the property.

WILEY
Then how do you explain the bone decay in her jaw?

LEE
This is one of our girls we’re talking about?

ROEDER
Former employee. Left us about two years ago.

LEE
Why don’t you talk to her current employer, then?

WILEY
She’s not working currently. She’s too ill.

ROEDER
I’m sorry to hear it. But let me assure you, Miss Wiley—we are taking
your concerns very seriously. (A look to LEHMAN.)

LEHMAN
We’re consulting with the Harvard School of Industrial Medicine.

WILEY
You mean Dr. Drinker?

ROEDER
You know him?
 5

WILEY
Fairly well. The chair of our league is a colleague of his.

ROEDER
Then we can agree? Whatever Dr. Drinker concludes—you will be
satisfied?

WILEY
I expect so. Thank you, Mr. Roeder. Gentlemen.

ROEDER
(as she crosses away) Have some cake, Miss Wiley!

LEE
Whatever the trouble is—it can’t be anything at the plant.

ROEDER
We’ll look at it. Meanwhile, Charlie—you just keep smiling.

(He slaps LEE on the back. Factory whistle blows. Men cross away,
lights shift and scene transforms.)

SCENE 2: THE FACTORY, THE FOLLOWING DAY

(The girls in the factory spring to life.)

KATHRYN
You shoulda seen it, Grace! The church was filled with flowers.
Lilies and carnations and orchids. You know how Amelia loved orchids.

IRENE
Those were flags.

KATHRYN
Orchids.

IRENE
Flags.

KATHRYN
I know an orchid when I see one, Irene. Purple orchids. Oh, and that
smell? Grace, was that smell, it was like—like—

GRACE
Flowers?
 6

KATHRYN
Like heaven. I was gonna say, like heaven.

IRENE
Like heaven? Kathryn, it was just a funeral. You make it out like it
was some kinda Valentino picture.

KATHRYN
It wasn’t just a funeral. It was Amelia’s—and it was beautiful. The
church was like the botanical garden. Oh and the company sent
flowers, too—a big spray a carnations.

(Enter MACNEIL.)

MACNEIL
Girls, girls! The whistle’s already gone! Now then. I’ve received new
instructions this day. We’re goin’ back to the old way of pointin’
the brushes. We was losin’ too much paint in the cloth.

(She collects the cloth. As she does, the girls, one by one, point the
brush on their lips. GRACE hesitates.)

GRACE
But—

MACNEIL
Yes, Grace. Somethin’ ya wish to say?

GRACE
Dr. Von Sochocky told me not to do that. Says its unsanitary.

MACNEIL
Unsanitary? I can’t hardly believe he’d say such a thing. The man
invented the paint.

(GRACE surrenders the cloth and tips the brush on her lips.)

MACNEIL
(cont’d) And you’re not to be sharing brushes. Each girl is to get
her own brush—and you’re not to get a new one till the old is so bad,
you can’t make a point no more.

KATHRYN
(to IRENE) How can ya make quota like that?
 7

MACNEIL
It’s not for us to be askin’ questions, is it, girls? It’s for us to
do the work.

(MACNEIL moves away, and the girls set to painting, pointing the
brushes on their lips as they proceed.)

KATHRYN
It’s not for us to be askin’ questions!

IRENE
Here’s an instruction for you, MacNeil: Let some of the starch out of
yer corset.

(KATHRYN laughs.)

GRACE
Was she at the service?

KATHRYN
Dr. Von Sochocky was though. And Mr. Roed- er. Oh! And Grace, you
know that fella from crystalizing? What’s his name, the one with the
red hair?

IRENE
It’s Jerry. Jerry Mallon. He’s the one always talkin’ to Amelia in
the day room.

KATHRYN
Grace! When the mass was over—he goes to the coffin, like this, he
goes!

(KATHRYN puts her hand to her lips and slowly blows a kiss to an
imaginary coffin.)

GRACE
Really?

KATHRYN
Really!

(They squeal excitedly.)

 8

IRENE
So what if he did?

KATHRYN
So what? He was in love with her, that’s so what. Don’t you think so,
Grace?

GRACE
I guess he had to be if he did that.

KATHRYN
And can you imagine? If he loved her and he never told her, never
could bring himself to say! Because... because she was so beautiful
... and ... and he was so shy. And now it’s too late. He didn’t tell
her, and he’ll never get a chance again.

GRACE
Poor Amelia.

KATHRYN
Poor Amelia.

IRENE
Poor kid.

KATHRYN
Her family took it awful bad, Grace. Everyone of ’em cryin’. Even her
father. Just bawlin’ like a baby.

IRENE
And you know why.

GRACE
’Cause their daughter had died.

IRENE
What she died from.

KATHRYN
Don’t go spreadin’ stories.

IRENE
Not a story. Her sister told us. No reason Grace shouldn’t know.

GRACE
 9

Know what? (A beat.) What?

(IRENE whispers something awful.)

GRACE
(a gasp) Amelia?

IRENE
Her father’s fit to be tied, too—six girls at home and none of ‘em
ever goin’ to a dance again—all because Amelia upped and died from
syphillis.

KATHRYN
Sh!

IRENE
I can’t help it if that's what she died from.

GRACE
But Ameila was ever so nice.

IRENE
Guess she got around more than we knew.

(Enter MACNEIL, ROEDER and DR. VON SOCHOCKY)

MACNEIL
Girls, girls! Your attention, please. The gentlemen are here to make
an announcement.

VON SOCHOCKY
And to explain some changes, yes?

ROEDER
Yes. As you may have heard, Dr. Von Sochocky is stepping down as
company president. And he wants to take this opportunity—

VON SOCHOCKY
To make with goodbye. Ladies. Some of you I have known since you were
little girls. Coming here during the war to work. Two hundred, three
hundred, five hundred dials a day ... (He stops.)

MACNEIL
Thank you, doctor.
 10

ROEDER
Yes, thank you, doctor. Now, girls! The doctor is a busy man and must
be on his way. So let us wish him the best of luck in his new
business ventures. (Applause.)

VON SOCHOCKY
And Mr. Roeder. Let us good luck wish to you also. With the new
direction you intend the company to take.

IRENE
(to KATHRYN) New direction?

VON SOCHOCKY
With the slowdown in dial painting—

ROEDER
Now doctor—

VON SOCHOCKY
And business moving to the medical market—there will be lots of
changes, yes?

(A beat.)

ROEDER
What the doctor is referring to—Some of our larger customers are
setting up their own dialpainting studios.

VON SOCHOCKY
Which means less work for our girls here.

ROEDER
In the short run. However, the Waterbury Clock Company needs help
with its new studio. We had planned to make the announcement next
week. We’ll make it now. Mrs. MacNeil?

MACNEIL
Uh. We’ll be askin’ some of you girls to go on up there. Kathryn
Schaub was one. And Louise Conlon. I have the list downstairs?

ROEDER
We’ll post it today. Now, girls. As we are all on the clock ... we’ll
leave you to your work.

VON SOCHOCKY
 11

Thank you, ladies. My best wishes to you.

MACNEIL
That’s back to work with you, girls.

GRACE
(as the men exit) You gonna do it, Kathryn? You gonna take that job?

KATHRYN
I will if you do.

GRACE
Tommy would have a fit.

KATHRYN
Just for a few months. Oh come on, Grace, it’d be fun! Won’t it be
fun, Irene? Irene?

(IRENE sits with her head in her hands.)

GRACE
Irene, honey? You all right?

IRENE
Sure I’m all right. Why wouldn’t I be? (Off GRACE.) What?

GRACE
(quietly) Your mouth is bleeding.

(IRENE wipes her mouth with her hand. She studies the blood. Tableau.
Four ticks of the clock. Scene transforms.)

SCENE 4: ROEDER”S FRONT PORCH, SPRING 1924

(DIANE [MRS.] ROEDER enters carrying a tray of lemonade.)

MRS. ROEDER
Harriet! Harriet you come down from that tree at once.

HARRIET
(off) I’m waiting for Papa!

MRS. ROEDER
When he gets here, I’ll send him up after you.
 12

(ROEDER enters carrying several bottles of Radithor.)

ROEDER
Harriet!

HARRIET
Papa! I can see clear to the church.

ROEDER
Do you see your grandfather?

MRS. ROEDER
You think this is funny?

ROEDER
She’s 9 years old, Diane.

MRS. ROEDER
I’m trying to raise a daughter, not a son.

ROEDER
Time is on your side. In another year or two, she’ll lose all
interest in trees ... and develop a fascination with boys.

MRS. ROEDER
What’s this?

ROEDER
Something to give you vitality. Want to try it?

MRS. ROEDER
If it will give me vitality—how could I refuse?

(He opens a bottle and pours a glass for her; a beat as she tastes
it.)

MRS. ROEDER
Your father came by to see me today.

ROEDER
Another hard luck case?

MRS. ROEDER
Four children at home. All under the age of 6.
 13

ROEDER
And the husband has been laid off from—let’s see—the brickyard.

MRS. ROEDER
How did you know?

ROEDER
He came to see me yesterday. It’s never enough with him just to have
ordinary ambitions. You have to have a mission in life.

MRS. ROEDER
And you do.

ROEDER
I can’t hand out jobs that don’t exist.

MRS. ROEDER
What about Dan Lehman?

ROEDER
Dan?

MRS. ROEDER
Couldn’t he use some assistance in the laboratory?

ROEDER
Dan needs trained technicians—not some bricklayer.

MRS. ROEDER
There must be something you can do.

ROEDER
I can get my checkbook.

MRS. ROEDER
Artie. The man needs a job. Not charity. What is it your father says?
A working man needs to work. It wears / on his soul ...

ROEDER
It wears on his soul not to work. All right. If it’s a matter of his
soul. That’s different. I’ll talk to Dan.

MRS. ROEDER
You’re a good man, Artie.
 14

ROEDER
You do love being married to the company president.

MRS. ROEDER
It has its advantages.

ROEDER
I make no promises, Diane.

MRS. ROEDER
No promises.

ROEDER
To your health.

(They touch glasses. Scene transforms.)

SCENE 4.5:

GRACE
That one’s nice, don’t you think? Yellow flowers would look good in a
baby’s room.

TOM
Baby’s room? Most girls, Grace, they get married before they decorate
the nursery.

GRACE
Plan ahead for once.

TOM
I like that one.

GRACE
Really?

TOM
That one then. Whatever you like, I’ll like. Wallpaper is wallpaper.

GRACE
No it isn’t. Ya gotta pick somethin’ you can stand to look at for 20
years.
 15

TOM
Same way ya pick women?

GRACE
Keep it up, smarty pants.

Scene switch moment – tom x grace is like a flashback moment sort of i

need to stop saying moment anyway
Scene 5: THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT, WINTER 1925

A clock ticking, the tick of an interminable wait: KATHRYN paces. TOM

and GRACE sit on a bench looking at a decorating magazine.
(Enter the CLERK. GRACE gets up.)

CLERK
I’m sorry. I don’t find anything under Schaub.

KATHRYN
It's Rudolph.

CLERK
Rudolph?

KATHRYN
The girl I’m askin’ about—Irene Rudolph, my cousin.

CLERK
Did she file the complaint?

KATHRYN
No, the dentist!

GRACE
Dr. Knef.

KATHRYN
He said she might have phossy jaw like they got in the match
factories. And he was gonna complain to the health department. But
it’s been six months and he hasn’t heard.

CLERK
Phossy jaw, you say?

(CLERK exits.)
 16

GRACE
Kathryn, maybe it was like Irene’s doctor said. Maybe it was a blood
infection.

KATHRYN
But what was it from?

TOM
From dirt. (Off KATHRYN.) You get infections from dirt.

KATHRYN
From dirt? Her face puffed up like a pumpkin. Her jaw rotted so bad
she couldn’t eat no more. You think you get that from a little dirt?
You get it from phosphorus.

TOM
Phosphorus.

KATHRYN
Go ahead and laugh. You won’t laugh so hard six months from now, when
it's you in here askin’ after Grace.

GRACE
It's just a toothache, Kathryn.

KATHRYN
That’s how it started for Irene. You wait, Grace. Soon you’ll be so
weak and sick you can’t stand up. Your gums will ache so bad you
can’t open your / mouth.

TOM
Stop it, Kathryn.

KATHRYN
Your face so swollen you can’t stand the sight / a yourself.

TOM
I said stop it!

KATHRYN
Yeah, a toothache. A toothache and a backache—and what else was it
you said, Grace? A sore leg that won’t quit?

TOM
What sore leg?
 17

GRACE
From my new job at the bank. From standin’ all day.

KATHRYN
It’s not from the bank and you know it.

(CLERK enters with a file.)

CLERK
Irene Rudolph?

KATHRYN
That’s it.

CLERK
(studying the file) Nothing.

KATHRYN
Huh?

CLERK
The company is in full compliance with all state health and labor
regulations. See for yourself.

KATHRYN
(reading) Paint is a harmless compound of radium and zinc?

CLERK
They also screened a number of the employees—the blood work is all
normal. There’s a copy of the report right there. (Nodding) Harvard
study.

(KATHRYN lifts a single page from the folder, turns it. CLERK goes
off.)

TOM
Ok, Let’s get some lunch.

KATHRYN
I wanna file another complaint.

TOM
Oh brother.
 18

GRACE
Kathryn. These folks. They’re awful busy here.

KATHRYN
Three surgeries, Grace, and they wanted to cut her again. She said
no. She knew. What was left of her jaw rotted so bad—I couldn’t look
at her. Irene was so afraid of being alone—but I left her alone. She
died in the middle of the night, and nobody was with her.

(GRACE squeezes her hand, goes to the counter and rings the bell. A
beat. The CLERK returns.)

GRACE
I’m sorry. Can we have another form please?

CLERK
Is the girl still sick?

GRACE
She died.

CLERK
Wait right here.

(GRACE feels an intense pain in her jaw. TOM sees this and helps her
to a seat. KATHRYN hands her the file. KATHRYN and TOM exit. Scene
transforms. Four ticks of the clock.)

SCENE 6: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, A YEAR LATER

(Flinn’s office. DR. FREDERICK FLINN, a 50-something academic, warm

and friendly, enters. He is smoking a pipe and carries a clipboard.)

FLINN
Miss Fryer?

GRACE
Dr. Flinn, it's awful nice of you to see me.

FLINN
Not at all, my dear, not at all.

GRACE
I told the surgeon I was comin’ over here, so he gave me the results
of my blood work.
 19

FLINN
(taking the file) Ah. Very good. (A beat as he looks at it.) I must
say, Miss Fryer. Your blood looks better than mine.

GRACE
It does?

FLINN
That’s what happens to an old man who smokes. Now, tell me what else
is troubling you.

GRACE
My feet and my back mostly. I’ve had to wear a back brace for about
six months now.

FLINN
I see. And this started before you left the company, or after?

GRACE
After.

FLINN
And you left the plant when?

GRACE
Two years now. My dentist, Dr. Knef? He says this all has to do with
the radium. I know another girl who died from it. Irene Rudolph?

FLINN
Rudolph. Oh, yes! Terrible thing. Vincent’s Angina. (Off GRACE.)
That’s an ulcerated condition of the mouth, my dear.

GRACE
From the radium?

FLINN
Oh, no, no, no. An unfortunate and rare result of poor dental care.
So let that be a lesson to you: Always brush your teeth.

GRACE
There was something else in the paper about this—other girls who got
sick—

FLINN
 20

Miss Fryer! Don’t tell me you pay any attention to the newspapers!

GRACE
But—

FLINN
Those stories are not scientific! No, no—you must listen to science!
And ignore the nonsense in the newspapers. Because I can tell you
right now—radium has nothing to do with what’s ailing you.

GRACE
Then ... what is ailin’ me?

FLINN
Poor diet, Miss Fryer. Poor diet. What you have is a vitamin
deficiency!

GRACE
But Dr. Knef said—

FLINN
You must eat more fresh fruit.

GRACE
Hard to do in the winter.

FLINN
And raw meat as well. That will help the anemia. Raw calves liver,
particularly.

(GRACE reaches for her wallet.)

FLINN(cont’d)
No, no, no, no. I’m a scientist, Miss Fryer. And I take a purely
scientific interest in your case. By allowing me to examine you—you
are helping to advance my studies. I thank you. (Hands her a business
card.) Call me any time. Day or night.

GRACE
All right, Dr. Flinn. Thank you.

FLINN
Happy to help, my dear.
 21

(GRACE shakes FLINN’s hand. FLINN crosses to ROEDERin his office as

GRACE studies the business card.)

GRACE
Dr. Frederick Flinn Ph.D. Physiology. Columbia University.

(The information troubles her.)

GRACE
(cont’d) That’s not a real doctor!

FLINN
My findings, Mr. Roeder.

KATHRYN
He’s seen half a dozen girls. Word I hear? He’s workin’ for the
company!

ROEDER
An objective evaluation I trust?

FLINN
The source of my funding has no bearing on my research.

GRACE
And I let that fella examine me!

FLINN
It’s not a medical examination. No, no. I merely consulted with her?

ROEDER
How are you doing on the rest of the report?

FLINN
The animal studies I conducted reveal no adverse effects from radium.
The problem, as you suspected, is one of personal hygiene.

GRACE
It’s exactly the way you said, Kathryn. Those people will say
anything. They’ll do anything.

KATHRYN
Except the right thing.

GRACE
 22

Well, we’re gonna make ’em, Kathryn. We’re gonna make sure someone
hears about this.

FLINN
My statement of fees and expenses.

ROEDER
Mr. Lee will draw you a check.

(Scene transforms.)

SCENE 7: THE WOMEN’S CLUB OF ORANGE, LATE 1926

WILEY gives a speech to a crowd. GRACE and TOM watch.

WILEY
... And so, ladies and gentlemen: We do not have to accept injustice.
We can use our powers as consumers to influence the practices of
those who would wish to profit from our patronage. Thank you.

GRACE
(as the crowd disperses) Miss Wiley? I’m Grace Fryer. The health
department said you might be able to help me?

WILEY
My goodness, yes. Miss Fryer, I’ve been meaning to call on you.
Please sit down.

GRACE
Me and my friend Kathryn, we wrote to the company about our troubles,
but we never heard back. So we went to see a couple lawyers?

TOM
But they all said it’s too late—

GRACE
Something about the law won’t allow it?

WILEY
The statute of limitations. It’s two years.

GRACE
And one lawyer, he wanted a thousand dollars up front! I already
spent every penny I saved for our wedding on doctors and dentists and
 23

hospitals. And I still don’t know what’s wrong. Exactly. And Tom,
here—he says he don’t care—

TOM
We just need to settle her debts.

GRACE
So’s we can get on with things.

TOM
So if we could get her some compensation—

GRACE
Do you think we could?

WILEY
Tell me, Miss Fryer. Just how far are you willing to go with this?

GRACE
Ma’am?

WILEY
Suppose I do find a lawyer to take your case. And the company says,
“All right. Here’s some money for you. Only—you are to tell no one
what we’ve agreed to.”

TOM
Confidential settlement.

GRACE
That don’t seem right.

WILEY
It isn’t right. But that’s what they will do. They will try to buy
your silence. Is it for sale?

GRACE
No ma’am.

WILEY
Miss Fryer. If you would be willing to put your own needs aside—for
the moment. We can stop that company dead in its tracks.

GRACE
How?
 24

WILEY
Hit them where it matters most. Their public image. When every
newspaper in America tells your story. How you were sorely treated.
How you suffered. How the company denied all responsibility! Believe
me, Miss Fryer, Arthur Roeder will come to the table with his hat in
his hands.

GRACE
And then I’d get my compensation?

WILEY
(with a nod) I know it’s a little frightening.

GRACE
Yes. But right now I’m more angry than I am scared.

WILEY
Good. You hang onto that anger, Miss Fryer. You’re going to need it.
Only—be sure no one else sees it.

GRACE
Ma’am?

WILEY
Public sympathy, Miss Fryer. That’s our strongest weapon. And the
public doesn’t have much sympathy for an angry woman.

(Tableau. Beat. Four ticks of the clock.)

SCENE 8: A SUNDAY FEATURE, EARLY 1927

(A busy street in Orange.)

REPORTER
December 4, 1927! Jack Youngwood reporting for the Newark Ledger!
Newark’s first source for news.

SOB SISTER
Nancy Jane Harlan for the New York Graphic! The New York Graphic’s
only girl reporter!

REPORTER
On the strange case of the Radium Girls,
 25

SOB SISTER
Who claim they were poisoned at the hands of their employer.

STORE OWNER
Ask me, it’s all a sham!

CUSTOMER
What do you mean? Those girls are very sick!

STORE OWNER
Sicka workin’, sure!

REPORTER
Doctors say ... the Radium Girls have only a year to live!

SOB SISTER
Only one year to live and two hundred and fifty grand to spend!

REPORTER
What would you do with that kind of money?

SOB SISTER
What would you do with $250,000?

SHOPGIRL
I’d buy a wardrobe like Irene Castle!

CUSTOMER
I’d give it all to charity!

MALE SHOPPER
I’d play the stock market!

STORE OWNER
I’d buy my wife a diamond the size of New Hampshire.

(GRACE appears, walking with a cane.)

GRACE
I’d use it to pay my medical bills. (Reaction from the crowd.) And
pay down the second mortgage on our house. The one my father took out
to pay for my last operation.

(Reactions of sympathy.)
 26

SOB SISTER
Pretty Grace Fryer sits at home.

REPORTER
... suffering bravely though this entire ordeal.

GRACE
It hurts to smile. But I try to smile. I know if I don’t smile—I’ll
go crazy.

(Approval from the crowd.)

STORE OWNER
But it must get to ya sometimes.

CUSTOMER
Knowing what you’ve been through.

SHOPGIRL
And the company getting fat off your labor!

MALE SHOPPER
And all they have to say about it is

ALL
No comment.

GRACE
I’d rather just think about how it’s gonna be when justice prevails.

SOB SISTER
What a fine example of womanhood. We can only aspire to bear our
cross in life as nobly as this young girl.

(Pleased, WILEY congratulates GRACE away as the scene transforms.)

SCENE 9: LAW OFFICES OF RAYMOND BERRY, THE FOLLOWING DAY

(The scene opens on RAYMOND BERRY, WILEY and EDWARD MARKLEY. MARKLEY
waves a newspaper in BERRY’s face.)

MARKLEY
Mr. Berry. I’ve been in this game a long time. And I know: When a
lawyer tries his case in the newspapers ... he doesn’t have much of a
case.
 27

BERRY
What’s your proposal, Mr. Markley?

MARKLEY
Fifteen hundred dollars. For each girl.

WILEY
That’s not even a year’s wages.

MARKLEY
We think it’s very generous. Considering your case won’t survive the
statute of limitations.

BERRY
We believe the court will find that it does.

MARKLEY
The court can’t rewrite the law. Two years from the date of injury.
Your clients are out of time.

BERRY
Two years from the date that the cause of injury is discovered.

MARKLEY
Very creative, Mr. Berry. I admire your imagination. But you’ve a
long way to go before you convince the judge.

WILEY
And in the meantime, Mr. Markley—the press will continue to take a
great interest in this story, and in the U.S. Radium Corporation’s
complete indifference to its workers.

MARKLEY
More good press for the Consumers League! And you accuse us of
exploiting these girls.

(Exit MARKLEY.)

WILEY
The arrogance of that man!

BERRY
Tell me again the purpose of these articles, Miss Wiley?
 28

WILEY
Public sympathy, Mr. Berry. That’s the engine of reform.

BERRY
How does it help the girls, to read in a dozen different newspapers
that they have only a year to live?

WILEY
Mr. Berry. Surely you can see: The company cares nothing about the
girls it poisoned—but the average housewife cares very much. These
women shop. They buy watches. Markley can be as smug as he likes, but
the Consumers League campaign is working. And he knows it. That is
why he was here today.

BERRY
I hope you’re right, Miss Wiley.

WILEY
Public sympathy, Mr. Berry. Wait and see.

(They cross off.)

SCENE 10: A HOSPITAL IN NEWARK, A MONTH LATER

(Lights up on GRACE in a hospital room with KATHRYN. KATHRYN dabs her

mouth with a handkerchief.)

GRACE
Ya all right?

KATHRYN
Bleedin’ again.

GRACE
Maybe we should go. You need yer sleep.

KATHRYN
’Fraid to sleep. Might not wake up.

GRACE
Look at this mail, Kathryn. Miss Wiley said folks would be on our
side, and she sure was right—

KATHRYN
(abruptly) Grace. What if we don’t win?
 29

GRACE
Course we’ll win.

KATHRYN
What if we don’t? We’ll be on the street. And you and Tom, you won’t
never get married.

GRACE
Kathryn. All we gotta do is get on the stand. Just think about the
look on Mr. Roeder’s face when the judge rules for us!

(Enter TOM with a brown paper bag.)

TOM
They didn’t have no vanilla. So I got some chocolate.

GRACE
Took you long enough.

TOM
Don’t get on me. I had six people stop me on the way over here—all of
’em reporters and all of ’em askin’ after you.

KATHRYN
Waitin’ for me to die.

GRACE
No one is waitin’ for you to die.

KATHRYN
It’s true. One of ’em. Called my mother. Askin’ if I had died. When
she said, “No.” He sounded. Disappointed.

(A PHOTOGRAPHER and the SOB SISTER make an unexpected entry.)

SOB SISTER
Evenin’ girls! How about a picture?

(GRACE starts.)

TOM
For the love a Mike! What are ya doin’?

PHOTOGRAPHER
 30

We need some pictures for the Graphic’s exclusive.

TOM
What exclusive?

(She hands TOM a contract.)

SOB SISTER(cont’d)
Perhaps you’re familiar with Benarr McFadden—

TOM
Who, that faith healer?

SOB SISTER
Herbalist, Mr. Kreider. Benarr McFadden’s patented herbal therapy is
just the thing to get the girls back on their feet! And the Graphic
will pay for it! All we ask is the exclusive rights to their story
from here on out.

TOM
Grace, they’re serious.

GRACE
You want to pay us five thousand dollars to go see Benarr McFadden?

PHOTOGRAPHER
Easy money, huh?

KATHRYN
Lemme see.

SOB SISTER
The Graphic always does business on the up and up.

TOM
Grace. What—what does your father owe on the house?

GRACE
I don’t know exactly.

TOM
And that last hospital bill? A couple hundred at least.

GRACE
At least.
 31

SOB SISTER
We’ll have to get our money’s worth—a regular series of features—with
pictures—following the course of your treatment, illness, recovery
... or otherwise.

GRACE
And you print whatever you want.

SOB SISTER
Maybe we add some color. Everybody adds color.

(PHOTOGRAPHER gives us the thumb’s up.)

GRACE
Not interested. (Turns away in disgust.)

TOM
Grace. Ya’d take it if it came from the company.

GRACE
Company owes us a lot more than that.

KATHRYN
If we ever see it.

TOM
Look, Grace. You’re gonna to talk to them reporters anyhow. Why not
get somethin’ out of it?

SOB SISTER
He’s right, ya know! You girls could cash in big on this. Anybody can
sympathize with the plight of some poor girl, facing certain
death—with no hope of fulfillment in motherhood.

(Her words are a slap to the face.)

GRACE
I’d like you to go now. My friend is tired. She needs her rest.

TOM
Grace. At least think about it.

(GRACE wheels KATHRYN off as TOM follows.)

 32

SOB SISTER
Sure. I understand—you’re worried what people will say. But hey—look
out for number one, that’s the way. Why should ya sit back and keep
your nose clean when everybody else is up to their elbows in it?

(Scene transforms.)

SCENE 11: ROEDER’S OFFICE, LATE SUMMER 1927

(DR. KNEF is making a proposal to ROEDER, LEE and LEHMAN. A smoky

backroom effect.)

KNEF
Gentlemen. I have treated a number of the girls who claim they got
sick here. One of them, the girl’s jaw rotted so bad I just lifted
the bone out of her mouth.

(They react as KNEF shows them a piece of bone in a jar of

formaldehyde.)

ROEDER
That’s all right, Dr. Knef. You can put that away.

KNEF
Maybe you’d rather look at it on the x-ray. (Producing the x-ray.)
Dr. Lehman? (LEHMAN takes the x-ray.) This was an expensive case to
treat and I never did get no compensation.

ROEDER
I sympathize, Dr. Knef, but what has that to do with us?

KNEF
Here it is straight: There’s going to be a lot more girls saying they
got sick here. So maybe we can play ball. You give me a list of girls
that worked here. I’ll see to it there ain’t no more lawsuits.

ROEDER
You think you could cure them?

KNEF
I couldn’t put out a cure, no. I would examine them—and then come up
with a favorable diagnosis. Pyorrhea, say, or something else.

LEE
You’d persuade them not to sue?
 33

KNEF
Correct. Quite a few will die a natural death. And the others we put
off till the statute of limitations kicks in.

LEHMAN
Why would these girls come to you?

KNEF
Anybody would. If you don’t charge ’em nothin’.

ROEDER
Because we’d be paying you?

KNEF
We understand each other, Mr. Roeder.

(ROEDER turns away in disgust.)

LEE
What exactly are you asking, Dr. Knef?

KNEF
Ten thousand dollars—for my troubles so far. Two dollars for every
visit, plus expenses—

ROEDER
Absolutely not! Your proposal is immoral and we want no part of it.

KNEF
Immoral? You’re a fine one to be talkin’ about morals. When you got
your own hired guns, ready to testify—

LEHMAN
Those are expert witnesses.

KNEF
Paid lackeys is more like it.

ROEDER
Good day, Dr. Knef. Mr. Lee will see you to the door.

KNEF
All right, all right—you won’t play ball with me? Somebody else will!
Believe me, there’s plenty of other folks wantin’ what I got.
 34

(KNEF shakes off LEE and exits.)

ROEDER
Charlie. Dan. I want you to make statements on what happened this
morning. We’ll send them to the State Dental Society.

LEHMAN
Then Knef will see who’s playing ball and who isn’t.

LEE
Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to shake this off.

ROEDER
What are you proposing?

LEE
Retain him as an expert.

LEHMAN
Like Flinn?

ROEDER
Dan! Dr. Flinn is a highly respected professor at Columbia
University. Knef is a neighborhood dentist!

LEE
It will keep him quiet.

ROEDER
This is getting out of hand.

LEE
We can handle Knef.

ROEDER
Knef isn’t the problem. It’s Von Sochocky.

(LEE looks to LEHMAN.)

LEHMAN
He’s going to testify for the girls.

(A beat.)
 35

LEE (recovering)
All right. Whatever Berry is paying him— we just offer more.

ROEDER
You don’t understand guilt, do you, Charlie? Let me tell you
something. A guilty man. Has a tremendous need to unburden himself.
What Von Sochocky needs is to be free. So he will never testify for
us. No matter what we offer.

LEE (a slow burn)

Every penny. Every penny I put by. In the last seven years. I have
sunk into this company. Why? Because of you, Arthur.

ROEDER
We were fooled, Charlie.

LEE
You said it was a sure thing. Why work for Von Sochocky when we can
work for ourselves. Remember that one?

LEHMAN
Charlie, please!

ROEDER
Von Sochocky fooled us all. All we can do now is clean it up the best
we can.

LEE
Then you better pray this whole thing stops in civil court. Because
if it comes to criminal charges—don’t count on me.

LEHMAN
Criminal charges? For what?

LEE
He didn’t tell you? Drinker’s report.

LEHMAN
What about Drinker’s report?

ROEDER
It’s proprietary. We were under no obligation to share it.

(Scene transforms.)
 36

SCENE 13: THE ROEDER HOUSEHOLD, A FEW DAYS LATER

(An interior. MRS. ROEDER reading a newspaper. ROEDER enters with

Radithor. He observes her, then sits, pours a glass.)

ROEDER
Very bad?

MRS. ROEDER
You didn’t read it?

ROEDER
I make it a point not to these days.

MRS. ROEDER
At the club today, someone actually said to me: “Is it true? Did your
husband poison those women?” I said: “Mrs. Middleton, if you think
it’s true, why would you associate with me?”

ROEDER
What do you want me to say, Diane? I knew we were poisoning people,
but we didn’t want to stop because we were making too much money?

MRS. ROEDER
Is it true?

ROEDER
Is that what you think?

MRS. ROEDER
What would you like me to think?

ROEDER
For God’s sake, Diane. Don’t you see what’s going on? It’s Von
Sochocky. He’s jealous of our success. And he’s feeding information
to the Consumer’s League—so they can railroad us.

MRS. ROEDER
Why would the Consumer’s League—

ROEDER
Bunch of radical women—do-gooders, half of them Reds,
probably—Socialists! That’s what they are. Same thing with that club
you belong to.
 37

MRS. ROEDER
I can’t. I’m sorry.

ROEDER (overlapping)
You’re going to quit that club.

MRS. ROEDER
Quit the club!

ROEDER
And stop talking to that idiot, Mrs. Middleton. // She doesn’t know
anything.

MRS. ROEDER (on //)

You’re not making any sense.

ROEDER
None of those women know anything!! You don’t know anything.

(Silence.)

MRS. ROEDER
(quiet determination) Did you lie to the Department of Labor?

(MRS. ROEDER holds out the newspaper. He takes it, looks at it.)

ROEDER
I have a fiduciary duty to the company.

MRS. ROEDER
I can’t listen to this.

ROEDER
Diane! I have documents—articles—People with tumors the size of
baseballs. Radium therapy—the tumors disappear.

MRS. ROEDER
I’m tired. I’m going upstairs.
ROEDER
You can’t really think I’m a liar, Diane. You can’t really believe I
would set out to poison people.

MRS. ROEDER
Thirteen girls have died.
 38

ROEDER
People die every day: young, old. Children, younger than Harriet. Die
every day.

MRS. ROEDER
But they worked for you!

ROEDER
They also worked in other places. Diane, I have a report from
Columbia University—Frederick Flinn—an expert in industrial hygiene,
just like Drinker—who says there is no connection between our plant
and these illnesses.

MRS. ROEDER
Then ... what could the cause be?

ROEDER
I don’t know, Diane. I really don’t know. (Beat.) Please say you
believe me. If you don’t believe me, there’s no point to anything.

MRS. ROEDER
Artie.

ROEDER
We save lives.

MRS. ROEDER
You save lives.

ROEDER
It’s all for you. You know that, don’t you? Everything I do. It
always has been.

(Doorbell.)

ROEDER
Please don’t let that be another reporter.

LEE
(off) Arthur!

MRS. ROEDER
Is that Mr. Lee?

ROEDER
 39

(going to the door) Charlie, for God’s sakes—

LEE
I just got off the telephone with the Ledger. It’s Dan. He’s dead,
Arthur.

ROEDER
What are you talking about?

MRS. ROEDER
We just saw him last week.

LEE
He died this morning.

MRS. ROEDER
But they were just here—Dan and Louise were just here.

LEE
They’ve already done the autopsy. A severe anemia. The Ledger is
running it on page one.

ROEDER
They’re blaming the radium.

LEE
I told the reporter we would issue a statement at 8 o’clock.

MRS. ROEDER
Poor Louise. We should go see her. We should go see her right now.

LEE
I wouldn’t do that.

MRS. ROEDER
Why ever not?

LEE
She’s planning to sue.

ROEDER
Louise?

LEE
 40

She’s filing a wrongful-death action. (Beat.) Now: I’ve worked up a

statement for the paper. Dr. Daniel Lehman, company chemist for eight
years ... always in poor health, recently in decline ...

MRS. ROEDER
But Dan was never sickly. He was always on the golf course ... or
sailing ... or in their garden. He kept a beautiful garden ...

ROEDER
Charlie. Let’s take care of this in the morning, shall we?

LEE
Of course. Sorry to bring you the bad news, Mrs. Roeder.

(He goes. A beat.)

ROEDER
Charlie can be a bit excessive at times.

MRS. ROEDER
You needn’t explain.

ROEDER
But we have to say something. The shareholders will expect it.

MRS. ROEDER
(gives him the Radithor) We’re going to get rid of this.

ROEDER
(as she moves away) Diane?

MRS. ROEDER
We’ll have no more in the house.

ROEDER
I’m in too far to quit.

MRS. ROEDER
I really didn’t expect you to.

(She leaves the room. He is alone. Cross to the next scene.)

Scene 14: The Fryer Household, Autumn 1927

(TOM and GRACE are alone. She is looking at dresses, in

 41

preparation for an interview.)

TOM
I’ll tell ya what we shoulda done. We shoulda took that reporter
up on her offer when we had the chance. That’s what we shoulda
done.
GRACE
Five thousand dollars. Don’t make me laugh.

TOM
We shoulda talked her up, too. ’Cause I’ll tell ya what— they’da
paid. And I’ll tell ya what else we shoulda done—

GRACE
Stop tellin’ me what we shoulda done!

TOM
It’s called a settlement.

GRACE
A settlement. Just another way for them to hide.

TOM
Let ’em hide.

GRACE
Then they win.

TOM
So they win. They’re gonna win anyways.

GRACE
Y’know what I found out today? They put lead screens in the
laboratory. For the technicians. Did they give us lead screens?

TOM
What are we doin’ here?

GRACE
 42

What d’ya think? A hunered girls in a room and they’re gonna

spend that kinda money on us? And Miss Wiley says they’re gonna
close down here—

TOM
Grace.

GRACE
Move across the river—

TOM
What are we doin’ here! I thought the idea was, you’d settle
your debts—get a better doctor—and we’d get on with things.

GRACE
Get on with things.

TOM
You’re still wearin’ my ring.

GRACE(after a beat)
Oh, Tommy.

(A pause.)

GRACE
I gotta see the surgeon again.

TOM
Uh huh.

GRACE
I got some fluid.
TOM
OK.
GRACE
Then he says. There’ll be more.

TOM
We deal with it when it comes.
 43

GRACE
And still more. And then more. And still more. Why can’t you see
that? How can you talk about buying houses and getting married
when you know there’s nothing—

(She stops herself.)

TOM
Grace. I just want for us to be together now. Right now. I want
to come home to you at night. To my wife—my home. I’m too old to
be living like this—this in between life.

(A silence. GRACE takes off her ring and holds it out to him.)

TOM (cont’d)
Grace. Come on.

GRACE
I should a done this a long time ago.

TOM
You just need to get some rest. That’s all.

GRACE
Tommy, please. Don’t me make me say it.

TOM
You’re not gettin’ enough sleep.

GRACE
Tommy!

TOM
You get some sleep. I’ll be back to see you tomorrow.

(He exits.)

GRACE
Tommy. Tommy! Don’t you do this to me. TOMMY!
 44

SCENE 16: THE FRYER HOUSEHOLD, SPRING 1928

(GRACE, asleep, is dreaming nightmares. Her mother enters.)

MRS. FRYER
Grace, wake up. It’s almost 4 o’clock.

GRACE
Ma?

MRS. FRYER
Mr. Markley will be here any minute.

GRACE
Did Miss Wiley come by?

MRS. FRYER
Miss Wiley?

GRACE
She was gonna stop by. They took Kathryn back to the hospital last
night. (Beat.) If she dies, it’s over.

MRS. FRYER
Sweetheart. I’ll tell ya what—when we get that check and we pay the
bank and the doctor—and the coal man—there will still be plenty left
for you and Tom—to help get ya started.

GRACE
Nothing to start, Ma.

MRS. FRYER
Do something with your hair, Grace.

(Exit MRS. FRYER. GRACE half-heartedly combs her hair.)

GRACE
Ma! You didn’t tell me I had mail.

(She takes the letters out of the basket.)

GRACE(cont’d)
They just keep writing, don’t they?

(She sorts the letters. GRACE finds a note in the basket from WILEY.)
 45

GRACE(cont’d)
She was here. (Reading the note.) Ma! Miss Wiley was here! She left
me a note—

(As GRACE heads to the door, enter MARKLEY and MRS. FRYER.)

MARKLEY
Miss Fryer. Edward Markley.

(He extends his hand. She does not take it.)

GRACE
Ma said you brought some papers.

MARKLEY
Yes. Terms spelled out. Five thousand dollars to you. I’ve got a
check right here. All we need is your signature.

(A beat as she studies the document.)

GRACE
This is a confidential settlement.

MARKLEY
That’s right.

(He extends a pen. She does not take it.)

MRS. FRYER
Grace. Mr. Markley is a busy man.

GRACE
(abruptly) Mr. Markley? What’s contributory negligence?

MARKLEY
I’m not sure what you’re asking.

GRACE
That’s what you said in court. Contributory negligence. Means it’s
our fault, don’t it?

MRS. FRYER
Maybe you could leave the papers, Mr. Markley.
 46

GRACE
Maybe he can just answer the question.

MRS. FRYER
Why are you doing this?

GRACE
Why didn’t you tell me Miss Wiley was here?

MRS. FRYER
She’d only try to talk you out of it.

GRACE
What did she say about Kathryn?

MRS. FRYER
If you’ll just leave the papers, Mr. Markley—

GRACE
What did she say about Kathryn?

MRS. FRYER
She said it don’t look good.

(A beat. MARKLEY starts to gather the papers.)

MARKLEY
Perhaps I should come back later.

GRACE
You didn’t answer my question, Mr. Markley. And I’d really like an
answer. ’Cause let me tell you: At your factory, they told us what to
do, how to do it. I didn’t make trouble; I wasn’t raised that way. So
I did what I was told. How do you get contributory negligence out of
that?

MARKLEY
We deeply regret your situation, Miss Fryer. But there is no evidence
to tie your condition to any action by U.S. Radium Corporation.

GRACE
Then why are you givin’ me this money?

MARKLEY
It’s ... it’s a humanitarian gesture.
 47

GRACE
A humanitarian gesture? Month after month you put us off. Delay after
delay. Knowing how sick we were. How tired. How desperate.
Humanitarian! You’ve been waitin’ for us to die.

MARKLEY
This is a generous offer and I advise you to take it. Or we will be
forced to withdraw it. Permanently.

GRACE
You’re just trying to bully me.

MARKLEY
Very well, then. See you in court.

(MARKLEY exits.)

GRACE
Yes, you will! You will see me. If they have to carry me in there
feet first.

MRS. FRYER
You call that man back!

GRACE
I’m goin’ to court.

MRS. FRYER
You know you can’t win.

GRACE
I don’t care! I want those people to look at me. And explain how it’s
my fault I got sick. Workin’ their factory.

MRS. FRYER
What good will it do ya?

GRACE
Ma. All my life, I done what other people told me to do. I never
said, “Please can’t I finish school?” I never said I din’t like the
taste of the paint. Even though I knew, Ma. I knew somethin’ wasn’t
right. At night, I’d lie in bed, and see my dress. On the closet
door. All aglow. My shoes on the floor. My hairbrush on the dresser.
So much light, Ma. So much light. And I never once questioned. I
 48

never once asked. Don’t you see? They knew I wouldn’t. That’s what
they were countin’ on.

(Scene transforms.)

SCENE 17: Von Sochocky’s Home, Late at Night

(Scene opens on ROEDER and VON SOCHOCKY.)

ROEDER
I left messages with your housekeeper. I know you got the
messages.

VON SOCHOCKY
As we are no longer in business together, I thought it best not
to respond.

ROEDER
Is that what this is about? Getting revenge?

VON SOCHOCKY
Revenge.

ROEDER
Losing the company. Losing your business. Now you’re getting us
back for it? By spreading lies about us?

VON SOCHOCKY
Perhaps a cup of tea will calm your nerves.

ROEDER
You never told us the paint was dangerous. You never said a word
about it—not to me, not to Dan—

VON SOCHOCKY
I didn’t know.

ROEDER
You didn’t know. You invented the paint, and you didn’t know.
How can you lie like that?

VON SOCHOCKY
 49

I didn’t know until it was too late, Arthur.

ROEDER
I was not the technical man. You were the technical man.

VON SOCHOCKY
Ya. I was the technical man. Sit down, Arthur.

ROEDER
I sold watches—I was a salesman.

VON SOCHOCKY
A good one at that. Very good head for the business, you have.
Not such a good head for the science, but for the business, very
smart. Always you could find ways to cut the costs without
losing the quality. That’s a gift, Arthur. So. Why don’t you
have some tea?

(VON SOCHOCKY hands him a teacup, and ROEDER sees that the older
man’s fingers are black to the second knuckle.)

ROEDER
What’s the matter with your hands? Have you been—dipping them in
ink?
(VON SOCHOCKY laughs.)

VON SOCHOCKY
Dipping them in ink. How fond of the pretty story you are. If
only it were ink. No. Dr. Martland tells me—it’s a necrosis of
the tissue. The cells. They are dying. With the dialpainters in
the jaw it starts. The necrosis. With me in the hands.

ROEDER
I had no idea.

VON SOCHOCKY
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other.

ROEDER
How long …
 50

VON SOCHOCKY
The necrosis, a few months. But I’ve known for a while. Miss
Wiley—from the Consumers League—asked me to assist Dr. Martland
in testing the dialpainters for radium exposure. I didn’t
believe her either, Arthur. I didn’t want to believe the girls
could get sick from working with my paint. I wanted to show her
it was a mistake. So I agreed to help. Dr. Martland and I
conducted expired air tests on the girls. It was then that I
found out. When my own breath registered radioactive. (Beat.)
Now. You wish to have words with me.

ROEDER
I’m sorry.

(VON SOCHOCKY produces a thin red book.)

VON SOCHOCKY
Look familiar?

ROEDER
Our promotional piece.

VON SOCHOCKY
An excellent promotion. How many new sales did that book account
for?

ROEDER
I didn’t track it exactly. I like to think it helped our medical
market quite a bit.

VON SOCHOCKY
Page 96. (Off ROEDER.) Open it. The last chapter.

ROEDER
The last chapter. Radium—dangerous effects.

VON SOCHOCKY
Dangerous effects. How many articles do you have listed there?
Ten? Fifteen?

ROEDER
 51

About 18, it looks like.

VON SOCHOCKY
How far back do they go—those articles?

ROEDER
I don’t know—

VON SOCHOCKY
Look at it. The first one. What is the date?

ROEDER
1906.

VON SOCHOCKY
1906. Now let me see. When you go into court, you plan to
testify that you had no idea radium was dangerous. How do you
plan to do that, Arthur? When your own book says that it was.
How can you claim that you did not know?

ROEDER
I never. I never really read it.

EPILOGUE: THE ABANDONED FACTORY, 1949

(HARRIET and ROEDER enter as at the top of the show.)

HARRIET
How many were there?

ROEDER
Hundreds worked for us. Dozens died.

HARIET
And they won their case?

ROEDER
Never got to trial. We settled—made big headlines. $10,000 for each
girl—medical bills for life. Which wasn’t all that long, for some of
them. (He crosses to an empty chair.) This is where she sat. One of
the fastest girls on the floor.
 52

(GRACE appears, with a tray of dials. ROEDER sees her.)

ROEDER (cont’d)
In the courtroom that day, I caught her looking at me. With so much
anger in her eyes.

ROEDER
I looked away. But afterwards—on the steps outside ... I had a chance
to speak to her.

HARRIET
(taking out a cigarette) What did you say?

ROEDER
I couldn’t speak.

GRACE
He was afraid to speak.

ROEDER
I had my chance and I couldn’t speak.

GRACE
(with satisfaction and wonder) That man was afraid of me.

(GRACE moves away like a ghost fading into daylight.)

ROEDER
How could I explain to her? I had responsibilities to my investors.

HARRIET
It wasn’t your fault. Nobody knew about things like that then ...
Science just wasn’t as advanced. (She lights the cigarette.) The way
it is now.

ROEDER
I think back on those days—coming up the steps, to this room. Filled
with light. Chalky, like an old schoolroom. And all those
girls—schoolgirls, really—bent to the task, their delicate little
hands moving so quickly. No man could work the way those girls did.
So careful, so fast. The brushes flying from the dials to the paint
to the dials ... to their lips. Try as I might, Harriet—try as I
might—I cannot remember their faces. (It strikes him.) I never saw
their faces.
 53

END PLAY