''Strike!'' is a 2005

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

depicting the

Winnipeg General Strike The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 was one of the most famous and influential strikes in Canadian history. For six weeks, May 15 to June 26, more than 30,000 strikers brought economic activity to a standstill in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which at the ...

. It has been adapted into a

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

radio production, a 17-minute short film, and the full-length feature film ''Stand!''.

Content

''Strike!'' focuses on Mike Sokolowski, a Ukrainian immigrant from Galicia who was killed by

Royal North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

on " Bloody Saturday", 21 June 1919. The account of his life is heavily fictionalized, and is character is composited with another

Ukrainian-Canadian Ukrainian Canadians are Canadian citizens of Ukrainian descent or Ukrainian-born people who immigrated to Canada. In the late 19th century, the first Ukrainian immigrants arrived in the east coast of Canada. They were primarily farmers and l ...

labourer. Sokolowski begins the play as an

anti-Semite Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

who loathes so-called

Jewish Bolshevism Jewish Bolshevism, also Judeo–Bolshevism, is an antisemitic and anti-communist conspiracy theory that claims that the Russian Revolution of 1917 was a Jewish plot and that Jews controlled the Soviet Union and international communist moveme ...

, but learns better due in part to a romantic sub-plot involving his godson Stefan (originally Myron) and his Jewish neighbour Rebecca.

Performances and adaptations

After two private workshops in 2003, a public outdoor "preview" of ''Strike!'' was performed at Old Market Square in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

on 15 May 2004. In May 2005, the full play was premiered at

Rainbow Stage Rainbow Stage is a not-for-profit musical theatre company and outdoor theatre operator, located in Kildonan Park in north Winnipeg, Manitoba. The covered amphitheatre seats up to 2,600 people and operates from May to September. History As urb ...

in Winnipeg's

Kildonan Park Kildonan Park is a park in the West Kildonan area of northern Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Established in 1909 as a park, it features the Peguis Pavilion, Rainbow Stage, the Witch's Hut, an Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pool, duck pond, and ...

as an independent production. The next fall, a revamped version premiered at Saskatoon's

Persephone Theatre Persephone Theatre is a regional theatre company in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The company was founded in 1974 by director Brian Richmond and sisters Janet Wright and Susan Wright and named after the Greek goddess Persephone. The first seas ...

. On 15 May 2007, a special performance at Winnipeg's

Burton Cummings Theatre The Burton Cummings Theatre is a theatre located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Built by local impresario Corliss Powers Walker, it was originally known as the Walker Theatre. The building was renamed after singer-songwriter and Winnipeg native B ...

was recorded for national broadcast on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

. The theatre was chosen in part because it had been used as a meeting-place for labour activists prior to the 1919 strike. The radio adaptation was broadcast on

Labour Day Labour Day is an annual day of celebration of the labour movement and its labor rights, achievements. It has its origins in the trade union, labour union movement, specifically the Eight-hour day movement, eight-hour day movement, which advoca ...

, 3 September 2007. In May 2009, an outdoor, street spectacle version of the musical premiered in front of

Winnipeg City Hall The municipal government of Winnipeg is represented by 15 city councillors and a mayor elected every four years. Along with being the current provincial capital of Manitoba, Winnipeg has served as the capital for two other Canadian territories: ...

—the site of the original events that inspired the musical. Summer productions of the full-scale musical were held at the Canwest Centre for the Performing Arts in July/August 2009 and 2010. The Edmonton premiere of the musical occurred on 24 April 2013 in conjunction with Workshop West Theatre, at the Timms Centre for the Performing Arts.

Adaptations

A interactive script/CD book based on ''Strike!'' was released by

Playwrights Canada Press Playwrights Canada Press is a Canadian publishing house founded in 1984 by the Playwrights Guild of Canada. It was incorporated in 2000 as an independent company. Notable books *''The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God'', Djanet Sears ( ...

on 10 December 2007. ''Mike's Bloody Saturday'', a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about the events that inspired the musical (i.e., the controversy surrounding the death of Mike Sokolowski), premiered on 7 October 2011, and was written, produced, and directed by Danny Schur—the composer/producer/co-writer of ''Strike!''. A 17-minute film adaptation of ''Strike!'' was produced in 2007, and was meant to solicit interest in producing a feature film—which came to be with the 2019 film ''Stand!''.

Financing

''Strike!'' was primarily financed by a limited partnership of investors from across Canada, with a mix of arts grants and donations from Canadian labour unions.

Cast and crew

''Strike!'' was created by Danny Schur, who wrote the music and lyrics and co-wrote the text with

Rick Chafe Rick Chafe is a Canadian playwright from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is most noted for his play ''The Secret Mask'', which was a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 2014 Governor General's Awards. Hi ...

References

Sources

''Vancouver Sun'': ''Strike!'' works for radio special
27 August 2007
The ''Ukrainian Weekly'' (Ottawa): Ukrainian Canadian's musical dramatizes Winnipeg General Strike
5 June 2005
Winnipeg Labour Council website: ''STRIKE'' New Musical Celebrates the Winnipeg Strike of 1919
12 May 2005

10 April 2005

External links

* ttp://strikemusical.com/strike/default.asp ''Strike!'' official website {{CBC Radio Dramas Winnipeg General Strike 2005 musicals Canadian radio dramas Culture of Winnipeg Ukrainian-Canadian culture in Manitoba Jews and Judaism in Winnipeg Musicals set in Canada Musicals inspired by real-life events Musicals set in the 1910s Canadian musicals Works about law in Canada 2000s Canadian radio programs Musicals set in Manitoba