About
the Play:
Strike! is a full-length
drama by Danny Schur and
Rick Chafe. The story
follows Ukrainian immigrant Stefan Sokolowski as he falls in love
with pro-strike Jewish suffragette Rebecca Almazoff to the dismay of
his father who fears she makes them a deportation target. Based on
the historical tale of the famous 1919
Winnipeg General Strike, it
is a courageous story of
overcoming prejudices towards class, religion, and ethnicity.
Strike! is
set during the 1919 general strike in the Canadian city of Winnipeg.
From Brisbane, to
Seattle, to Barcelona, workers demand their share of the post-war pie
but big business and big government say "no" to crippling
general strikes. But in Winnipeg, an entire city shuts down for six
weeks and was front-page news around the world. Mike Sokolowski and
his godson Stefan have escaped Europe only to become "enemy
aliens" in Canada. But where Stefan finds social justice in the
strike, Mike sees a threat to his bid
to earn enough money to transplant his remaining family members from
Bolshevik-imperilled Ukraine. When Stefan falls in love with
Rebecca, a pro-strike Jewish suffragette, making a deportation target
of them all, Mike turns against the strikers and their growing hope
of changing the world. Old World
hatreds collide with New World ambitions in Strike!
– an epic story of
courage, passion, and hope on a collision course with power. This
play comes with a CD of the cast recording.
Strike! premiered in
2005 at Rainbow Stage in
Winnipeg. Since then
the play has been successfully staged at several professional
theatres in
Saskatoon,
Edmonton, and
remounted in Winnipeg.
Cast: 21 actors (may be performed with as few as ten actors), with
musical accompaniment on CD, or via three- to ten-person orchestra
What people say:
"Strike! has
important message for humanity." — The Winnipeg Free
Press
"Strike! A
stirring tribute to historic event." — Edmonton
Journal
"Rivetting ... spellbinding."
— The Jewish Post & News
"Strike! The
Musical has such a vast array of content and an uplifting theme, it
makes haters of both Canadian history and musicals see the error of
their ways." — The University of Saskatchewan Sheaf
"An improbably compelling
piece of musical theatre." — The Globe and Mail
"The show ... gives you
everything you want: a love story, a suspenseful plot, a collection
of good songs and a history lesson that teaches you something about
yourself." — The Saskatoon Star Phoenix
About the Playwright:
Danny Schur is a
producer, musician and playwright from Winnipeg. He has co-authored
and composed the scripts and scores for major theatrical productions.
Rick Chafe was born in Toronto and raised in Winnipeg. He
has had over a dozen plays produced in Manitoba, across Canada, and
into the U.S. Rick also writes for film and television, and teaches
play and screen writing at school, college and university levels.