Salisbury High School Theatre is taking on the task of telling the real-life story of young women who were hired to produce watches and military dials painted with material containing radium, a radioactive element that glows in the dark at the onset of World War I.

According to Britannica, “Radium had been discovered just 20 years earlier by French physicists Marie Curie and Pierre Curie ... Because it had been used successfully in the treatment of cancer, many considered radium a miracle element, and a variety of commercial products were manufactured in which radium was an ingredient, including toothpaste and cosmetics.

“The women hired to paint dials came to be known as ‘ghost girls’ because the radium dust to which they were exposed daily made their clothes, hair and skin literally glow. Many of the women wore their best dresses on the job so the fabric would shine brilliantly when they went dancing after work. Some even applied the paint to their teeth because it gave them radiant smiles.

“What’s more, the painters ingested the radioactive substance as part of their job. Because some of the watch dials on which they worked were extremely small, they were instructed to use their lips to bring their paint brushes to a fine point. When they asked about radium’s safety, they were assured by their managers that they had nothing to worry about.”

The women slowly began to get sick with mysterious symptoms and in 1925 a pathologist named Harrison Martland developed a test proving radium had poisoned their bodies.

The play, by D.W. Gregory, is directed by Shannon O’Grady. Technical Director is Chris West.

Stage managers are Hailey Bender and Claire Nichols.

Assistant to the technical director is Nathan Staack.

O’Grady and West designed the set. Hair and makeup for the show are credited to O’Grady and Gabriella DeJesus. Staack and Michael McWhorter make up the paint/prop crew.

The show is produced by special arrangement with the Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Ill.

Members of the cast include: Chloe Jarjous, Karina Hernandez, Mady Williams, Grace Spellacy, Mia Bernard, Stuart Carl, Bella Natosi, Faith Spellacy, Olivia Cudd, Mikayla Lighting, Nadia Joanne, Laura Haldeman, Cassie Daw, Soledad Lausch, Michael McWhorter, Anthony Jarjous, Emily Morris and Hanin Suleiman.

All set changes are in view of the audience as per the author’s vision.

“When I first read this, I knew it was vital to the playwright’s vision as well as my own as director,” O’Grady said. “And when I was lucky enough to hear her [the playwright] speak to the cast via video call, more and more became clear; the reason this play is so moving is because the focus remains on the characters: the real human beings that lived this story. Yes, this play is based on real events and the struggle of actual women in the 1920s in New Jersey.

“There is so much for us to learn from the history and the science of hazards in the workplace, but in order to truly move audiences and awaken their compassion, we must move quickly and stay vigilant in honoring the heroes of this story: young women - not much older than our students - who fought valiantly for justice in the face of corrupt capitalism and crippling pain,” O’Grady said.

“It is an honor to present this play and pay them homage. May it remind us all to be vigilant in identifying poison in all forms, and battle to rid it from our lives,” O’Grady said.

“Radium Girls” will be performed 7 p.m. Nov. 10, 11 and 12 and 2 p.m. Nov. 13 at Salisbury High School.