It's one hundred years since songwriter and union organiser, Joe Hill, was controversially executed by firing squad in Salt Lake City for a double murder he almost certainly didn't commit...
"I was framed on a murder charge by the bosses who wanted to keep working folk down to maintain their profits" he said "But I didn't die. So stop mourning for me and get organising..."
During his life Joe Hill, a Swedish immigrant worker in the States, was an influential figure in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) - or Wobblies as they were famously known organising workers and writing political songs and poems along the way. Classic Joe Hill songs include There is Power in a Union, The Rebel Girl and Casey Jones - the Union Scab.
Around fifteen years after he was executed, Alfred Hayes wrote a tribute poem, I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night, which was later turned into a song and performed by everyone, from Paul Robeson and Pete Seeger, to The Dubliners, Bruce Springsteen and, famously, Joan Baez at Woodstock. Chumbawamba also wrote a song about him, called By and By.
We've had the songs, now the drama of Joe Hill's life is set to be staged at Salford Arts Theatre on Friday 27th November, in a play written by John Fay, who's penned for Brookside, The Mill and Coronation Street, and featuring Dingle Community Theatre, Vauxy Theatre, Liverpool Socialist Singers and Liverpool LGBT Choir.
"It may seem like a gloomy subject to dramatise" says Tom Mclennan, director, "but John Fay uses many techniques including humour to lift events out of the history book and to show them in a way that is engaging and relevant to today."
The Salford staging is part of a tour supported by lots of organisations, including trade unions UNISON, Unite, GMB and the North West TUC...
"Joe Hill composed many songs about struggle and resistance which have been inspiring people for over a century" adds the production's Alex May "Apart from it being one hundred years since his execution this play is relevant because of the Government's plans to restrict still further the ability of people to withdraw their labour."
Indeed, the play is also being used to publicise the current campaign against anti-trade union laws currently being put through Parliament... for further details - click here
The Joe Hill Dream by John Fay
Friday 27th November 7:30pm
Salford Arts Theatre £8/£6
To book tickets click here
For more details see Salford Arts Theatre website click here
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