Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Like a moment frozen in time
Thousands watch historical play at city hall
Actors playing strikers seek to overturn a prop streetcar.
MIKE.APORIUS@FREEPRESS.MB.CA WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Main Street in front of City Hall was shut down Saturday for a live production of Strike!, a musical depicting the events of the 1919 general strike. - Nick Martin story May 23/2009
Mounted police drew their guns and charged, goons cracked heads with their truncheons, the Union Jack flew over city hall, and a striking Ukrainian immigrant was shot... again.
Maybe not since 1919 have 5,000 people crammed onto Main Street in front of city hall, said a delighted but still stunned impresario Danny Schur, the man who brought the Winnipeg General Strike back to life Saturday afternoon.
No, it wasn't a real streetcar that the strikers tried to overturn, and it wasn't a real scab behind the wheel.
It was all pretend -- those thugs standing on William Avenue in suits and fedoras, wearing white armbands and carrying billy clubs, scowling at families and cyclists and seniors and giving the cellphone cameras all the attitude they could handle.
But when a mounted policeman turned, drew his pistol, and charged up Main at full gallop, and when a man was shot -- just as striker Mike Sokolowski was before he died on that very spot 90 years ago -- it was a moment frozen in time.
Not a single sound came from 5,000 people.
"The performance was just stunning for me. I saw people looking on in wonder," said Schur, composer, producer and playwright of the musical, Strike!.
Schur has worked since November on the shortened version of the musical he staged Saturday on the southbound lanes of Main Street in front of city hall.
"It's just so important we do it here. We tend to forget -- there's no institutional memory," said Schur.
Indeed.
There's a lonely historical plaque about the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike on the north side of William, along a terrace outside city hall, to commemorate one of the most seminal moments in Canadian social and labour history.
"There's more the city could do. It's pretty shocking that people don't know more," said cyclist Krista Scott.
Kelvin High School student performers Laurie MacDonell and Anna Currie were among dozens of strikers recruited from a half-dozen high schools Saturday, but neither had heard much about the Winnipeg General Strike before this year's Grade 11 Canadian history course.
"It's kind of surprising that nothing has been done before this. It's 90 years," said Currie. "When we were talking about it in class, it's not something the government was proud of."
"Our drama teacher said it would be a great opportunity," MacDonell said.
Scott and fellow cyclist Andrew Stobart made a conscious effort to learn more about the strike before Saturday's perfomance, attending a lecture at the Millennium Public Library. But there's far more that can and should be done to raise public awareness, they said.
MLA Rob Altemeyer agreed.
"You look at the faces during the performance -- people were absolutely transfixed.
"It's the arts that are teaching us," said Altemeyer (NDP-Wolseley), who urged that a site be found in the immediate area to commemorate the strike visibly and educate the public. The MLA also touted staging Schur's musical annually.
That's the plan, said Schur, but the full musical would stage at The Forks each year rather than on the street, he said.
"It exceeded my expectations," he said after the crowd applauded Saturday's performance.
"That the city would allow it to happen... it was a logistical nightmare" to close off southbound Main and divert dozens of transit buses, he said. "It took Sam's (Mayor Sam Katz) personal intervention."
Strike will be staged eight times at The Canwest Performing Arts Centre at The Forks from July 30 to Aug. 5.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 24, 2009 A5
-
WFP Hockey
Download our new hockey app for the iPhone for Winnipeg Jets updates
-
Editor's Bulletin
Sign up for daily bulletins from editor Margo Goodhand
-
Winnipeg Jets
All things NHL on our Jets landing page
-
Twitter
Follow our reporters and our news feeds on Twitter
-
News Cafe
Check out the menu, read our blog posts or get info on coming events
-
Facebook Fanpage
Follow our Facebook Fanpage for story links, contests and special events
Ads by Google
- Back to Top
- Return to Latest News
Poll
Most Popular
- Piers Morgan blasts 'gruesome' Madonna
- RCMP receptionist told Stobbe wife was dead
- Cabela's to open massive store just west of IKEA site
- Steinbach booms to No. 3 city in province
- RCMP receptionist told Stobbe wife dead
- Juror dismissed in second-degree murder trial of Mark Stobbe
- Should infants be allowed in the House of Commons?
- No comfort in trade talk: Veteran Thorburn says closely knit club well worth keeping together
- Search is on for man seen leaving the scene where two Alberta Mounties were shot
- US teen gets life in prison for killing 9-year-old; called the murder "pretty enjoyable"
- Piers Morgan blasts 'gruesome' Madonna
- Clothing chain pulls Caterpillar boots to protest closure of London, Ont., plant
- Three winning tickets sold for Friday's $50 million Lotto Max jackpot
- Woman's car stolen at gunpoint at St. Vital mall, police say
- Eleven people killed after truck hits van in southwestern Ontario
- 'This is so silly': Mom and Dad tell story of baby Zade, born on side of Highway 59
- Stobbe said slaying during shopping trip 'strange': sister-in-law
- Tactical squad storms St. Vital house
- Woman sexually assaulted during noon-hour in Exchange District
- Restaurant Dubrovnik may be closed for good
- Do you smoke marijuana?
- Driver dead after SUV goes over Disraeli Bridge
- George Clooney's prank could end Pitt's career
- Piers Morgan blasts 'gruesome' Madonna
- Tina Maze strips down to her sports bra to send out underwear message: 'Not your business'
- Clothing chain pulls Caterpillar boots to protest closure of London, Ont., plant
- Minor earthquake strikes near Manitoba
- Car's plunge off Disraeli fatal
- Two children, two women die in fire
- Kate Beckinsale's weight fears over Underworld catsuit
- Tassimo brewers and espresso packages recalled amid rupture, burn concerns
- Cabela's to open massive store just west of IKEA site
- Fighting fire with knowledge
- Spain mourns death of Catalan painter, sculptor Antoni Tapies, top contemporary art figure
- Pardon application fee to quadruple later this month despite complaints
- Our 'true champion'
- Harper driven by libertarian ideology, not reality
- OMG! Candy kings back at it
- Original Joe's, Elephant & Castle expanding
- Flood reviews launched
- Tassimo brewers and espresso packages recalled amid rupture, burn concerns
- Swedish bunny's sheep herding skills becomes click-monster on YouTube
- League encourages hazing secrecy
- Cabela's to open massive store just west of IKEA site
- Harper driven by libertarian ideology, not reality
- Northern fishing lodge destroyed by fire
- Police target drivers talking on cellphones, texting
- Obama torn by conflicting allies
- 'This is so silly': Mom and Dad tell story of baby Zade, born on side of Highway 59
- Fighting fire with knowledge
- Minor earthquake strikes near Manitoba
- Paddler Starkell was modern-day voyageur
- Tassimo brewers and espresso packages recalled amid rupture, burn concerns
- Driver dead after SUV goes over Disraeli Bridge
- Car's plunge off Disraeli fatal
- Canadian woman 'badly injured' in Mexico, local media report apparent beating
- Winnipeg mother watches as car stolen with child inside
- Swedish bunny's sheep herding skills becomes click-monster on YouTube
- League encourages hazing secrecy
- The cost of calories: It's expensive to eat healthily
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010; View the changes. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.