Season
1973-74
Play
Buchans: A Mining Town
Run Dates
–Summer 1974
Header image features: Donna Butt (left), Bembo Davies, Allan Booth, Lee J. Campbell, Connie Kaldor. Photo courtesy of Archives & Special Collections at Memorial University Libraries.
Playwright
Director
Cast
- Donna Butt Performer
- Bembo Davies Performer
- Howard Cooper Performer
- Allan Booth Performer
- Lee Campbell Performer
- Connie Kaldor Performer
- Chris Brookes Performer
Description
The Mummers Troupe spent six weeks living amongst the miners in Buchans—a town owned by the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO)—to create this show. Buchans had been started as a mining camp, but over forty years miners’ families had moved in and babies were born, turning the camp into a community.
Over that time, thousands of miners suffered injuries such as hearing loss, and illness like silicosis, lung disease, and lung cancer from working in the mines—in some cases leading to death. Coupled with low wages, no benefits, and no ownership of their homes, miners and their families struggled as they were made to leave once miners retired or could no longer work, despite Buchans being their home.
Strikes took place in 1941, 1955, 1971, and 1973. Using taped interviews, the Mummers Troupe created a retelling surrounding the strikes and the history of Buchans’ people. The show also features a true verbatim speech made by miner Peter Noftle, who after twenty-five years of service to ASARCO and grappling with hearing loss, receives a forty-dollar watch from the company – which he refuses to accept.
Production type
- Mummers Troupe Production
