REMEMBERING THE WINNIPEG GENERAL

May 14, 2019

Doors open at 6:30pm

Remembering the Winnipeg General is a political vaudeville that tells the story of the momentous, yet oft forgotten Winnipeg General Strike. On May 15th, 1919, in solidarity with striking construction workers, ⅔ of Winnipeg’s population walked off the job. The strike lasted six weeks and is arguably North America’s largest labour action ever. It only ended after a riot in which two strikers were killed. In the 100 years that have followed it has passed out of memory, and been forgotten.

This play is an attempt to combat that forgetting. This is especially true given the vital connections between 1919 and 2019. Issues of the day mirror so much of our own political moment: immigration, far right violence, media bias, income inequality. The events of the strike are a fertile ground to examine the modern political moment; this makes the piece both a reckoning with a piece of Canada’s neglected past and an opportunity to examine its present and future.  

Juxtaposing past and present, a cabaret-themed evening of theatre, music and poetry will visit the ethos of the 1919 strike. Join us in a reading of Remembering the Winnipeg General that includes audiences in remembering, reflecting, and envisioning.

Remembering the Winnipeg General an original play by Thomas McKechnie, performed by Heather Marie Annis and Ximena Huizi, directed by Erin Branderburg, with original music composed by Kristine Schmitt.

Co-presented with the Socialist Project Cultural Committee.

Tranzac Club

292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto