We Built This City
Written and directed by Donna Jackson
Melbourne Workers Theatre
With Mark Seymour
Scienceworks, Melbourne
Until May 6
PREVIEW BY MARGARITA WINDISCH
At a time when the Howard government has introduced the most reactionary IR legislation in over 100 years, when meal-break trade-offs (workers can live on love and thin air?) become part of unequal negotiations between ruthless bosses and an atomised work force, the Melbourne Workers Theatre (MWT) play We Built This City is a highly appropriate and much anticipated production.
It is a breath of fresh air and testimony to the struggles waged by workers in the past and present. The play is a reminder of the great victory won by courageous stonemasons on April 21, 1856, when they laid down their tools and marched to parliament demanding of an eight-hour working day.
Kelly Shirreff, MWT manager, told Green Left Weekly that MWT was approached by the Victorian Trades Hall Council in late 2004 to be part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the eight-hour day. MWTs artistic director created We Built This City specifically for the event.
"Developed in partnership with the [construction union (CFMEU)], We Built This City takes our company back to its glorious foundations by once again linking in with workers and the union movement", Shirreff said.
The play is staged at the Melbourne Scienceworks, a 19th century pumping station classified by the National Trust. The play features jungle beats on 44 gallon drums and much heavy machinery and introduces the audience into a world of steel, concrete and scaffolding. According to Shirreff it's a place where "no-one is called by their real name, hand signals are never rude and real men wear hats".
Through a mix of storytelling, theatre and a roving rock music performance featuring Mark Seymour, former lead singer of the Hunters and Collectors, the play offers the audience an insight into the life and times of those workers who built not only the physical foundations of Melbourne, but also helped shape culture, sport and politics.
We Built This City helps celebrate the strength and great skill of construction workers in Melbourne who daily put their lives on the line. A legion of Melbourne's best community theatre artists have been commissioned to make this epic theatre work.
The cast are all workers and union members, who share their own stories about their work and family life. They will also showcase their work skills and musical talents.
From Green Left Weekly, April 26, 2006.
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