Honouring David Fennario on Vimy Ridge Anniversary
“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:
April 7th Motherhouse – at The BOX Theatre
This powerful drama gives voice to Montreal women at the British Munitions Factory during the Great War. With tensions running high over conscription and war profiteering, Motherhouse tells a very different sort of Canadian war story. Produced in association with Theatre Kingston, this reading, directed by Kathryn Mackay, will feature some of Kingston’s favourite actors.
No valour. No glory. Just mothers and daughters, sisters and sweethearts struggling to get by doing the dangerous work of bomb making. Meanwhile, their men die in Europe and their children waste away.
A gritty tale of hard-bitten women who fought another sort of fight.
“The ground we took is not measured in miles but yards…I’m not kidding…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
You can RSVP on Facebook here.
March 12th The Good Fight – at the Screening Room Kingston
The Good Fight tells the moving story of Montreal’s David Fennario, a feisty, irascible artist determined to stick with the good fight. This despite being afflicted with Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Eminent documentary filmmaker Martin Duckworth chronicles Fennario’s life and work. The film describes his groundbreaking 1979 Balconville. Its main focus is the staging of Motherhouse and its 2014 premiere at Montreal’s Centaur Theatre. This searing story of Great War women munitions workers, this touching film portrait captures 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
You can RSVP on Facebook here.