By Cameron Weston
APLAY celebrating unionism and the 150th anniversary of the eight-hour day will open in Spotswood as the impact of new industrial relations laws continues to be felt in Australian workplaces.
We Built This City, starting this weekend at the Scienceworks Museum, looks at the lives of Australian workers and the union movement over the past two centuries.
The production is a curious blend of storytelling, theatre and live music, which looks at the people who used raw muscle power to build Melbourne and her landmarks, including a scene set on the West Gate Bridge.
The Melbourne Workers’ Theatre is behind the show and, as the name suggests, the group has strong ties with the union movement, and a left-leaning mind-set permeates the production.
Manager Kelly Shirreff said the company was contemplating ways to celebrate its 20th anniversary when she got a call from Trades Hall, seeking help with a project to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the eight-hour day. Initially, they sought an active construction site, but health and safety issues ruled this out.
Scienceworks soon came to the rescue, throwing its doors open for the production.
Ms Shirreff said with Scienceworks located in the western suburbs, almost below the West Gate Bridge, it was the “perfect venue” for the show.
The heavy industrial ambience of Scienceworks offered the perfect backdrop for the performance, which dealt with the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the union movement.
The audience will be led through various spaces as the performance unfolds, from the outdoor amphitheatre and into the boiler room and the engine room.
Performer Angela Casella had to blow seven years’ of rust out of her saxophone after she decided to join the We Built This City band.
Angela, a stonemason and union safety representative, was initially involved in the project as the subject of a video interview, one of many workers’ stories in the production.
Angela was looking forward to taking part in a performance dealing with a subject close to her heart and one that was proudly “pro-worker”.
“The anniversary of the eight-hour day is a huge thing. It’s good to be in a production that takes sides,” she said.
Former Hunters and Collectors front man Mark Seymour wrote six original songs for the show, and Angela said the rehearsal process had been great fun.
We Built This City runs from 26 April to 6 May at Scienceworks in Spotswood.
