There is a triumphant kind of beauty when Libby Amato, resting in the arms of her husband, finally gives up her life and sails seamlessly from her children, her friends and her life.

It’s a moment that calls for tears, but it’s hard to tell if they are tears of sorrow, tears of joy, tears of peace or tears of bitter anger.

It is all of that and more in the splendid, powerful and touching production of "These Shining Lives," being staged by The Umbrella Group at Next Act Theatre in the Third Ward.

More than anything else, this play is eloquent testimony to the oft-lossed concept of modesty in a theatrical performance. There are not overt tugs at heartstrings nor overwrought shouting in the face of fatal injustice.

What we get, simply, is the story of the radium girls, women who worked at the Radium Dial Company in the 1920s. The women painted the faces of timepieces manufactured by the company, painting them with a delicate brush that contained radium. The delicate work provided jobs for women at a time when the earning power was dim. But these watches that glowed in the dark gave these girls a chance to make more money than they ever thought possible.

It isn’t long before we begin to suspect that something much darker than just painting watches is at work here. In order to get a fine point on the brush, the ladies twirl it between their lips, over and over during their lengthy shift.

The four women who work side by side for  years become a family of their own. Amato is the narrator and the newest of the workers. Anna Figlesthaler is the non-stop chatterer who becomes the closest friend to Amato. Linnea Koeppel is the bawdy jokester, and Jade Taylor is the moral compass of the group.

After just a few years, the women begin to notice that their hands glow in the dark – a moment that takes special notice of the evocative lighting talents of Jason Fassl. It’s a moment that makes you catch your breath, actually seeing the start of this tale of horror.

But the company doesn’t think anything is wrong and even claims that radium has health benefits. A steady parade of doctors agrese and prescribe aspirin as each of the women begin to notice painful developments in their health.

This play, directed with exquisite care by Mallory Metoxen, is based on a true story, and Metoxen has the good sense not to overplay her hand. The walk is a soft one, steady and full of the kind of love that a group of women can have for each other.

It would be easiest to see this play as the big bad business men against the poor downtrodden women.

But it is so much more than that, thanks in large measure to the wonderful work of the cast and crew. Philip Setteland, who plays Amato’s husband, is full of the warmth and affection of a great husband and the conflicting drive of a man who truly believes the best place for his wife is in her home. He is both somber, frustrated and touching in his relationship with his wife.

The four women all bring sparkling talents to their roles, each just different enough to make this group such an interesting one.

But the actor to whom this play truly belongs is Amato.

She opens as the narrator, dressed simply in just a slip, and we follow here without caution as she moves from her life of plain to her life of pain. Before our very eyes she takes us from a Catherine full of life to a woman wasted away by the radium. We well up in tears as each new pain tries to take something away from her, and she continues to hold on with everything she has.

It is a transcendent performance by Amato who I have watched over a number of years. My eyes told me that nothing had truly changed about her, but my heart ached for the physical wretch she became, all while holding on to the spirit that, I believe, is unique to a woman.

There are lessons to be learned in this show, but perhaps the most profound is something each of the women knows in their hearts.  These women all got a bad deal in life and they were clearly taken advantage of by men,.

But you are only a victim if you think you are a victim. And not one of the radium girls felt at all like a victim.

"These Shining Lives" runs through July 19 and information on show times and tickets is available here.