“April 9, 2017 will mark the 100th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge. From April 3-9, the Canadian government, with other organizations, will attempt to stir our souls with a sanitized version of the battle of Vimy Ridge. Using the occasion to further militarize our society and promote a system that profits from continuous war, they will regale us with tales of past glories and the birth of a nation.”

– Jane Gilcrist,Canadian Dimensions Magazine

PeaceQuest Kingston answered the call to action as outlined on the Vimy-Ridging website to host readings of Fennario’s plays on the anniversary of the Battle at Vimy Ridge. Fennario’s work often delivered blistering condemnations of war and celebrate resistance from the bottom up. Read on for descriptions of the two events we have planned:

March 12th The Good Fight – at the Screening Room Kingston

The Good Fight tells the story of Montreal’s David Fennario, a feisty, irascible artist determined to stick with the good fight despite being diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome in 2002.

Eminent documentary filmmaker Martin Duckworth (who will be in attendance for this screening) chronicles Fennario’s life and work. The film’s main focus is the staging of Motherhouse and its 2014 Montréal premiere. Both the stories of Great War women munitions workers and this touching film portrait capture the life and work of the activist, the artist and the man.

“When a final analysis is made of 20th-century Canadian theatre, the most significant political playwright will undoubtedly be David Fennario.”
-Canadian Book Review Annual

Sunday March 12th – 4:00pm – $10
at the Screening Room
120 Princess St. Second Floor

April 7th Motherhouse – at The BOX Theatre

With tensions running high over conscription and war profiteering, this powerful drama tells a different sort of Canadian war story. Produced in association with Theatre Kingston, this reading, directed by Kathryn Mackay, features some of Kingston’s favourite actors. Together they give voice to the Montréal women at the British Munitions Factory in Verdun during the Great War.

While their men die in Europe and their children waste away, mothers and daughters, sisters and sweethearts struggle to get by doing the dangerous work of bomb making. “The ground we took is not measured in miles but yards…ten men killed for every goddamn step taken over there…”

Friday April 7th – 7:30pm – $10
at H’Art Centre – The BOX Theatre
237 Wellington St. Lower Level
Advance tickets at Novel Idea Bookstore