Kudos to the Valley High School Drama Club for presenting a drama based on a true story. We often hear the pejorative, “kids these days.” However, if “adults these days” provide the appropriate guidance/opportunity, “kids these days” can rise to the challenge.

It is the fashion for high school theater departments to mount big-budget musicals. Granted, these productions are wonderful experiences for students, community musicians and local audiences. Highlighting local talent can only be a good thing, as these shows can involve a lot of students in a multi-­disciplinary learning activity that all involved will cherish for years to come.

I rarely see a school tackle a serious, compelling experience, though, through entertainment. Valley’s “These Shining Lives” told the story of women whose lives were destroyed by the radium they worked with, uninformed of the dire consequences.

The stark but compelling set served to accommodate the drama’s many locales: home, work, beach, courtroom, etc. What the stage lacked in spectacle was compensated by the fine acting and direction.

Themes in the play reinforce Mark Twain’s adage that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. We saw characters enjoying and struggling with daily life. Set in the late ’20s, the production’s roles of family members in marriage and loyalties in the workplace still ring true today. All that glitters is not gold and is often not even desirable.

The students, parents, families and friends will surely treasure this lovely experience as much, or more than, many school-sponsored activities.

Colleen Clark-Sulava

New Kensington

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