REVIEW

Fragmented picture of 1983

SOLIDARITY FOREVER... ? Written by Chris Creighton-Kelly. With Susan Astley, David Peterson, Suzanne Ristic, Margo Kane. At the Vancouver East Cultural Cen- tre, Nov. 16-21.

It seems as if a couple of lifetimes have passed since the night of Nov. 13, 1983, when International Woodworkers leader Jack Munro met with then premier Bill Bennett in his home riding to put the cap on the most militant and broad based fight against reactionary government legislation in post-war years.

The agreement which ended the fight of unprecedented scope was soon dubbed the Kelowna Accord. No settlement in British

Columbia’s history has produced such ~

emotion and such controversy.

Such was the nature of the struggle against the 27 bills of Socred legislation that united community, women’s, disabled, church and human rights groups with trade unions in the Solidarity Coalition, that it has already assumed the larger-than-life dimensions of history. But it is recent his- tory, and viewing it in retrospect produces strong feelings.

Obviously aware of all this, Vancouver performance artist Chris Creighton-Kelly has ventured forth with the first attempt to dramatize the Solidarity period. The result is Solidarity Forever . . .?,a production with a statement as fragmented as its mixed- media format.

Viewed on several large TV monitors scattered and stacked like building blocks on the two-tiered stage, images of the rallies and marches that highlighted the struggle compete with the live action provided by the production’s four. characters. They are Francesca Bergoni (Sue—Astley), Patricia Martin (Margo Kane), Dave Pollard (David Peterson) and Cindy Reynolds (Suzanne Ristic) and they represent, respec- tively, teachers, the poor, trade unionists and women’s groups.

As sort-of symbols of the basic compo- nents of Solidarity, Francesca, Cindy, Patricia and Dave aren’t meant to give us the definitive message about the movement and its demise. In fact, early on in the pro- duction the actors voice what amounts to an author’s explanation. Solidarity Forever

. ?, we’re told as the characters sarcasti- cally recite several slogans, is not in the genre of “‘politically correct” theatre — by which the author seems to mean that no definitive answers will be given.

Instead, the message is the host of ques- tions that lie unanswered in the wake of Solidarity: could Solidarity have continued if strikers had continued to defy injunc- tions? Who did Jack Munro represent when he went to Kelowna? Could the movement have brought down the government?

Valid questions, but Solidarity Forever

. ? doesn’t attempt to answer them. What it does do is present viewpoints. Cindy, who enjoys a lesbian relationship with Fran- cesca, is the essence of what is often called the non-aligned left: militancy and sponta- neity combined. Francesca is the teacher who knows the Socreds are destroying edu- cation but, as a career person, shies away from law-breaking. Dave is a middle-of-the- road trade unionist and stands for order, the New Democratic Party and the proper channels of duly-constituted authority. Patricia, in an outstanding performance by Margo Kane, is the downtown eastsider, a single parent on welfare who is politicized through her involvement in Solidarity.

Interspersed with the live action is a videotaped interview with Willis Shaparla, a participant in the historic 1935 On-to- Ottawa Trek who provides a link to the struggles of the Eighties, and newsreel foot- age of the rallies and marches between the launching of the first actions in July to the final days before the accord in early November.

SOLIDARITY FOREVER ...

pete with live action.

Most of the live action consists of the interplay among the principal characters, whose views naturally clash. All are given equal time, but one can’t help but notice it is Cindy who steals scenes. Her gregarious nature contrasts with the political timidity of Francesca and the stodginess of Dave. And we get some idea of where Creighton-

Kelly finds his heroes when Cindy states that it is the community groups that provide Solidarity’s “moral high ground.”

Dave, meanwhile, dismisses groups out- side the trade union movement as subordi- nate to what he considers the key objective of the Solidarity movement — defending labour’s rights. In some ways, we’re told, he is part of the problem with his implied belief that electing the NDP is the panacea for all social ills. But Dave’s character is only accu- rate in describing some of the trade unio- nists involved in Solidarity. He does not represent those left-wing trade unionists who provided the initiative for the Solidar- ity Coalition and who pushed for the max- imum in extra-parliamentary efforts to stop the legislation.

For some reason, Solidarity Forever . . delves briefly into the backgrounds of ns of its protagonists. Why this is done is unclear since those vignettes explain neither Solidarity nor why these given individuals became involved in it. And, since they serve mainly as symbols, it raises the question as to why the mainly traumatic childhood incidents described are necessary to under- stand the characters.

Equally unclear is why Creighton-Kelly imposes himself, via a videotaped message midway through the production, to make some vague statement about art. This artis- tic self-consciousness is furthered in the program’s notes, in which the author offers what presumably is an excuse for the dis- jointedness of much of Solidarity Forever

.. 2: “Interdisciplinary art is a fancy way of describing work which comes from hectic, media-layered modern lives. We are all liv- ing them. If you are having any trouble

10 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 18, 1987

PHOTO — MARK GOERTZ

? CAST (clockwise, from top right): DAVID PETER- SON, MARGO KANE, SUSAN ASTLEY, SUZANNE RISTIC...

TV images com-

‘getting’ the piece just imagine the fragmen-

tary nature of your own day-to-day thoughts and experiences.”

But simply stating one’s philosophy of art does not excuse artistic weaknesses. The best feature of the play are the scenes of the rallies — in Empire Stadium, outside the legislature, on the streets of Vancouver dur- ing the Social Credit convention in mid- October — which remind one of the spirit and vigour of the historic people’s move- ment. The live action itself gives us tantaliz- ing glimpses of the politics and drama of the Solidarity movement, but ultimately falls

t hort of th k. far too short o e mar nas ackoetoii

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