Musical strikes a chord with activists

Strike! The Musical is getting heaps of attention these days. Not only is Workshop West’s Alberta premiere set to run April 24 to 28 at the Timms Centre of the Arts, but Steven Page, former lead singer of Barenaked Ladies, is set to play the male lead in the $10 million movie epic.

The brainchild of creator Danny Schur, Strike!, is based on the story of Ukrainian Canadian immigrant Mike Sokolowski. He was shot and killed on the steps of Winnipeg City Hall during the city’s infamous general strike of June 21, 1919.

Known as Bloody Saturday, it occurred six weeks after the beginning of the Winnipeg general strike with workers demanding fair wages and working conditions.

It was a turbulent spring. Soldiers returning home from the war found jobs taken by Eastern European immigrants who were also suffering from discrimination, slave wages and skyrocketing inflation. Most people were living below the poverty line.

The atmosphere was rife with tension, conflict and fear mongering about the Bolshevik menace – a natural foundation for a great Canadian story.

Schur, along with co-writer Rick Chafe, added a liberal sprinkling of romance and composed great songs pulling together all the elements for a hit musical.

The duo has attempted to find a human core at the centre of a national event. Unlike many Broadway musicals, it doesn’t varnish over the seamy side of social politics, heated anti-immigrant bigotry, sexism and class divisions.

“It has a wonderful galvanizing effect. It’s a story of empowerment that builds to a great climax, and it wraps up as triumph of people over the forces of oppression,” says director Arne MacPherson.

Intimately involved in the musical’s Winnipeg and Saskatoon productions, he played the role of McDougal, a Scottish beat cop.

Former Sturgeon County resident Fred Zbryski leads the Edmonton cast as Mike Sokolowski, a caring patriarch desperate to save his Old Country family from an advancing Russian army.

Newly arrived in Canada with his godson Stefan, Mike is trying to save money to bring his wife and children to Winnipeg. With an unstable political condition in his former homeland, he cannot afford to strike. Lost wages mean he could lose his family.

The younger more idealistic Stefan, on the other hand, has fallen in love with Rebecca Almazoff, a strong-minded young woman whose brother Moishe is an avid pro-striker who stands to be arrested.

MacPherson describes the musical as a love story on many levels.

“I find myself moved to tears in rehearsal. There is something about human courage and bravery in the face of dire consequences that I find moving. At lot of characters have a lot to lose, but sometimes you have to do the right thing, no matter the outcomes. In a nutshell, the play shows what can happen when people band together to act as one.”

Although the Winnipeg strike failed, it brought to light the need for collective bargaining. MacPherson likens it to the Occupy Movement, an international protest movement against social and political inequality.

“These are the ways people empower themselves.”

While Zbryski has dipped into his immigrant heritage to create Mike’s accent, his flavour and mannerisms, the five-foot eight-inch actor remains very much a modern man questioning events that run parallel to the past.

“It’s amazing what’s unfolded in the last couple of years – the big economic crash, people losing their jobs and austerity. We’re programmed to accept cuts and people are left wondering ‘Am I in charge of myself or am I a slave or cog in a wheel?’ The other thing that struck me is that this is such an important story it’s surprising we don’t know it as well as we should.”

Strike! The Musical is a two-for-one deal where you receive a historical education while being entertained.

Zbryski closes by saying, “It’s a beautiful piece of art. It’s the quintessential Canadian story and it should be given the weight it deserves.”

Two local actors also performing in the musical are Victoria School of the Arts student Frances Baartman and St. Albert Children’s Theatre member Sage Jepson.