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Mother Jones Takes to the Stage
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“Eighty years after her death, Mother Jones’ howl for safe mines and responsible corporations still echoes,” writes LA Weekly’s Amy Nicholson in a review of the play, “The Most Dangerous Woman in America: Machine Guns, Coal Dust, Mother Jones and the Making of the American Dream.”
Written by David Christie and performed by Actors’ Equity (AEA) member Therese Diekhans, the one-woman drama won the Best Solo Show award at the Hollywood Fringe festival in June.
It’s now set for two more performances in Everett, Wash., (just a 26-mile shot from Seattle, straight up I-5) next weekend, Sept. 11 and 12. The performances are half-price for union members and free for union members on strike (location info here).
Writing in the LA Theater Review, Kat Primeau says Diekhans’ charming, studied performance:
playfully brings to life 15 characters, from children mill workers to John D. Rockefeller, as the audience learns the true cost of Big Business cost-cutting in early 20th century mining towns. Mother Jones’ rallying speeches on apathy and revolution are particularly poignant amidst contemporary woes.
Visit Diekhans’ website here.
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2 Comments
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Thankyou for this article on one of the pillars of the American Labor Movement, who, like Eugene V. Debs, noone knows anything about, even union members. Part of the reason is that our leaders are afraid of what might happen if we really studied these pioneers and learned from them. I hope this article and the play encourate folks to do just that. I can tell you one thing, Mother Jones never – never – voted for either a Democrat or a Republican.
Brother Rayson, you are probably right. Neither did Gene Debs, Bill Haywood, Joe Hill, William Z. Foster and other labor legends who were admittedly either socialists or communists or anarchists!
Today’s labor movement is sorely lacking in fully comprehending or appreciating the concept of class consciousnes! This is evident in the fact that labor remains a slave to the Democratic Party.