Recreating a history of struggle

Issue 

By Julia Perkins

ROSEBERY — A $10,000 Arts Council grant has been awarded to the "Rosebery Miners and Axemen's Bush and Blarney Festival" for a community theatre project based on Marie E.J. Pitt's poem "The Keening".

Pitt, who lived in Rosebery at the turn of the century, wrote poems about the hardship endured by the working men, women and children in the mining industry. She later joined the Communist Party in Victoria.

The project will draw on the many talents in the local community to bring Rosebery's history alive by dramatising one woman's fight for survival following the death of her husband underground at the turn of the century. The performance will be set in the Bottom Pub, which will be reconstructed according to an early 20th century floor plan.

The festival is to be held from February 26 to March 1. "The Keening" is published in The Horses of the Hills and Other Verses, Speciality Press Ltd, Melbourne, 1911.

If you like our work, become a supporter

Green Left is a vital social-change project and aims to make all content available online, without paywalls. With no corporate sponsors or advertising, we rely on support and donations from readers like you.

For just $5 per month get the Green Left digital edition in your inbox each week. For $10 per month get the above and the print edition delivered to your door. You can also add a donation to your support by choosing the solidarity option of $20 per month.

Freecall now on 1800 634 206 or follow the support link below to make a secure supporter payment or donation online.