Strike! Winnipeg shocks the nation
The following review originally appeared in the May
20th issue of
Uptown Magazine (Winnipeg).
It was with some trepidation that I prepared myself and
my
four-year-old grandson to go to Old Market Square to watch the
musical Strike! Winnipeg Shocks The Nation. I was hesitant because
even though it was May, it had been snowing quite heavily all week
and I wondered what kind of set would be built in Old Market
Square-or whether the play would even go on as planned!
Lo and behold, when I arrived twenty minutes before the show, there
was no snow, but a sea of lawn chairs in Old Market Square and filled
with people sitting, standing near the stage and even across the
street-2,500 was the count! What a sight! All these people were there
to see the re-enactment of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike which
occurred exactly 85 years ago to the day-May 15, 1919.
Not only were the 2500 people in the audience watching
a performance,
we were less than a block away from where the Strike actually
occurred-we were part of a "living" history! The performers
were
dressed in clothing from the period, including original RCMP uniforms.
In conversation with producer, director, and actor Danny Schur, I
discovered the amount of background work he had done to prepare the
actors for this play. Some of them were from Grant Park High School
and, of course, had known nothing about the 1919 Winnipeg General
Strike. But Danny recounted its history to the students, and you
could sure tell by their performances that they had become a part of
that historic event!
And what about the performance itself? There wasn't a dry
eye in the
crowd as the musical came to an end. With the incredible voices of
Jeff Skinner, Jeremy Kozielec, Dana Horrox, Carson Nattrass, and
Christopher Ryan as the lead singers, backed by the Grant Park
Performing Arts students, they simply overwhelmed the audience with
the feeling of being "right there"-it was May 15, 1919! As Loa
Henry
of the Winnipeg Labour Choir said, "I got so involved that I was
ready to join the strikers right then and there on stage!"
I personally felt transformed-as if I was a worker standing
in the
middle of the mass of people fighting for equal pay for equal work,
an eight-hour day, and fair wages for women! This feeling was
reinforced even more by the period costume worn by the actor who
played Senator Robinson, the 1919 car that was driven onstage, and
the actors who depicted the RCMP riding on horseback into the crowd.
Councillor Garth Steek said, "What a sight! This could only happen
in
Winnipeg," and I agree! This was no ordinary musical, but one that
could only happen in Winnipeg. I liken the experience to what I felt
when 7,000 people showed up at the Legislature to oppose the war in
Iraq-overwhelmed!
Talking to members of the Canadian Labour Congress, I learned
that
there is a great deal of interest in them sponsoring this play to go
across Manitoba (it would cost $500,00) so that other adults,
students, and children can learn about this momentous event in our
province's history. The more I think about it, the more I believe
that in future, Rainbow Stage's outdoor setting would be ideal for
such a performance. Let's do it!