STRIKE the Musical and
the Winnipeg Strike of 1919
Strike the musical, Strike! the Musical, Winnipeg Strike of 1919.
The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike was a defining moment, not merely for this city’s identity, but for Canada’s.
It was a grassroots revolt that started in Winnipeg, but soon went national, by workers frustrated in their struggle for a living wage and fair working conditions.
The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike was the fuse that lit the country’s fledgling human rights movement.
Arguably, it changed the course of human rights in Canada and became a model for change throughout the developed world.
You might not, at first glance, think this is promising material for a feel-good evening of musical theatre.
Sure, it's got pathos, happy moments, sad moments, star-crossed young lovers, tough times, and a confrontation between citizens and police that sounds like it was ripped from the headlines. You get all the emotion and conflict of a thumping good yarn.
I have to tell you, I loved it and I'm going back to see it again.
Main reason - good story, well acted, well sung and well danced by a small company of just 10 professional actors (mainly up-and-coming local talent), plus a chorus of talented fresh young faces.
They all put their heart into it.
It’s well worth your time and the price of a ticket ($30 and $33).
And while I can’t guarantee you’ll dance out of the theatre a Better Person, you will emerge a well-entertained one, maybe even whistling one of the 21 catchy tunes.
Strike the Musical – the story
The war has finally ended, but still times are hard in the North End in the Spring of 1919.
Wages are low for long hours of grinding labour. Living conditions are difficult. Housing is overcrowded and substandard. And prices for basics such as bread are rapidly rising.
The powers that be don’t get it.
Those men who have survived the war abroad are returning home, changed beyond what anyone realizes by their experiences in the trenches of Europe. They need jobs, homes, hope, their wounds healed and lives re-established.
But there are few jobs, putting even more pressure on those who’ve struggled here while they’ve been gone. Anti-immigrant sentiments (and other ugly forms of bias) are on the rise.
Those in power make decisions that look more to the comfortable past pre-war than to the troubled present or uncertain future, further increasing the suffering of most of the population, the workers on whom their wealth depends.
Newcomers to Canada, at the bottom of the social ladder, some having escaped lives of desperation in countries so recently Canada’s enemy on the battlefield, have a tenuous grasp on a new life here in a city and country that no longer seems to want them. Their hopes are fading; their frustration and anger are rising.
Compassion is in short supply.
In other words, it’s a power keg, and its about to go off.
When it does, their lives, this city, this country and, ultimately, workers’ rights and human rights will change here and far beyond our borders.
Strike the Musical – an epic journey for Danny Schur
This production is also about the epic journey (and persistence) of composer Danny Shur. Since 2002 he has produced this story as:
a musical, workshopped at University of Winnipeg
a one-hour play, presented at Market Square in 2004
a full-scale musical staged at Kildonan Park in 2005. It drew more than 14,000 during its three-week run
A chamber version by Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon in 2006
a one-hour concert aired on CBC in 2007
a 17-minute movie trailer designed to raise funds to produce the movie itself
a book, published in 2007 by Playwrights Canada Press
street theatre on May 23, 2009, on the 90th anniversary of the 1919 General Strike and on the exact spot on Main Street near Portage where the ultimate confrontation between workers and police (many of them hastily-recruited and just-returned soldiers) took place, complete with Mounties, horses, and replica streetcar and an audience of more than 5,000
in 2009 and 2010, in this two-hour musical version (with more songs) at The Forks.
Co-written with Rick Chafe; music and lyrics are by Danny Schur, who also is the Producer. They plan to make staging Strike the musical an annual event.
It is their vision that this Human Rights Epic, as Schur calls it, become a mainstay at the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights (due to open at The Forks in 2012). No word yet on if this will happen, though it is, on every level, the morally correct choice, a natural fit for Winnipeg's new showpiece national museum.
“The play is a plea for tolerance and compassion” Shur told Winnipeg Free Press reviewer Alison Mayes. He sees it having an annual run and becoming iconically Winnipeg as well as iconically Canadian, the art that reminds us who we are and what we believe in, something people will point to with pride and tourists will be attracted to seeing as a uniquely Winnipeg and uniquely Canadian experience.
Strike the Musical could bond with Winnipeg like the perennially popular Anne of Green Gables has with Charlottetown and Prince Edward Island.
Yes, there’s some serious stuff here, but also fine singing and dancing in this production featuring 10 local actors and a chorus of singing and dancing young performers (some appearing in their first professional stage production).
"We know now that our city - indeed, our country - was changed for the better because of the brave choices made by individuals in 1919," Director Ann Hodges said in her program notes for the 2009 edition of Strike the musical. "The General Strike was not just about collective bargaining and unions, it was an event in which people of all classes and backgrounds courageously chose to overcome racial discord, gender barriers and class differences....[they] demanded a society built on tolerance and compassion....We can be proud that this is part of our story as Winnipeggers."
The Globe & Mail summed up Strike the musical, calling this, “An improbably compelling piece of musical theatre.”
Appropriate for almost everyone, including children age 10 and beyond (though children and younger teens might need a bit of explanation beforehand).
There is plenty of free parking at
The Forks
and, like all theatres in Winnipeg, it is wheel-chair accessible.
The 2010 run is July 29 to August 4 daily at 8 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee on August 1.
Tickets: (204) 942-8898 or
here.
Strike the Musical in 2011
Went to Strike the Musical with family members and I have to tell you, it was even more powerful than I remembered from last year's performance.
Two new songs, many of the actors in key roles were back, and absolutely the only thing I can criticize about this production is that it ended too soon - and we found ourselves outside, heading back to the car, talking about how we just have to see it again, next year.
Fortunately, we can. 2011 dates have been announced. They are July 28 to August 3 at Canwest Performing Arts Centre (MTYP) at The Forks.
Read more about
Strike the musical
(opens in a new window) on their website.
More theatre at Winnipeg Theatre main page
Go from Strike the musical to find more Winnipeg events
Back to Visitor-Guide-to-Winnipeg.com home page
|
Subscribe 
