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Paved With Gold and Ashes

 
Skot Wilson Review by Skot Wilson 5 Published: 12 Feb 2019 Tristan Bates Theatre Show Dates: 9 Feb 2019-9 Feb 2019

Paved with Gold and Ashes is the story of five women who survive a hideous factory. It is a historic narrative, based on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that killed 146 workers, nearly all of them young women. Directors Emma Kniebe and Julia Thurston have crafted a harmonious performance of song, ensemble and movement, which dwells just as much on the small words and exchanges of any workplace environment as it does upon the major, awful events of March 25, 1911.

A harmonious performance of song, ensemble and movement.

Julia Thurston has turned a catastrophe into a textile and touching script. The patter between the cast of five women who work at the factory is exquisite, dotted with the light humour symptomatic of workplace conversation, but also charged with in-fighting and assessments of status. As the audience take their seats the cast (Louise Courtney, Grace Cherry, Emma Kniebe, Amy Leeson, and Julia Thurston) are at their stations, already sewing. Music and voice are harmonious – with an almost choral perfection which turns the factory floor into a tender and emotive space. The characters simultaneously support and resist each other in small ways, but a certain kind of solidarity shines through.

There is anger, too. Although scenes of music, solidarity, and group ensemble create a world where these women support each other – they indicate another state of affairs: a world of men and business owners which is sexist, which values the lives of women as less than the cost of a shirt, and which was complicit in the raging inferno that killed the factory workers and inflicted life-changing injuries to countless others.

The dramatic irony of the piece is there from the outset. The audience knows how this story ends. The written journey that Thurston deploys to take the audience there is well-paced, extremely well structured, and intelligently metered. By the time the fire strikes, we have an intimate understanding of each character’s personality, inclusive of hopes and frustrations.

Thurston’s agonising and attentive descriptions of the factory fire is one of the most effective pieces of dramatic writing I have ever seen. Set against a red glow, the fire is brought to life with words and words alone. What is said and described is horrible and unfair. Thurston’s writing provides an unflinching mirror to today, where the malpractice of economic giants still persists. Thurston reminds us that there is nothing accidental about these catastrophes that result in the murder of citizens and employees – they are the final movement in a larger process, of what happens when those who have worked tirelessly in order to maintain a dream of the future, are disregarded by those who are living that dream

This play was presented by Threedumb Theatre as part of their Six Plays, One Day event at the Tristan Bates Theatre on 9th February, 2019.

http://www.threedumbtheatre.com

Amir Nisi

Skot Wilson

Skot Wilson is a writer & playwright on attachment to Bristol Old Vic, and a recipient of a 2021-2022 Boston University MFA scholarship. His work has been commissioned by Bristol Old Vic Theatre, the BBC, and he is a recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Literary Prize. He joined Broadway Baby in 2018 and was shortlisted for Allen Wright Award for reviewing at Edinburgh Fringe in the same year, as well as the International Anthony Burgess Prize for Arts Journalism.

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Can five young women keep their dreams alive? Or will everything turn to ashes?

1911. New York City is flooded with immigrants from all over Europe hoping for a new life. The Triangle Shirtwaist factory is one of the most coveted places to work. Some say that in America the streets are paved with gold, full of wealth and opportunities, but is this true for five young factory workers? Based on a true event, taking place over the course of one Saturday in March, Paved with Gold and Ashes explores what it means to be a woman and an immigrant, each young woman daydreaming about the life she wishes to live once her promise of the American dream has been fulfilled. But battling poverty, capitalism, and unfair working conditions, their dreams may just turn to ashes.

Part of Threedumb Theatre's Six Plays, One Day.

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