WWU Theatre and Dance to Present ‘The Ballad of Ginger Goodwin’ Feb. 4-13

January 26, 2016

Western Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance will present “The Ballad of Ginger Goodwin” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 4-6 and Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 10-13, as well as at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6 and Feb. 13 in the Performing Arts Center’s DUG Theater.

Tickets can be purchased at the WWU Box Office or at cfpa.wwu.edu/theatredance and vary between $12-14 for general and $7-9 for students depending on time and day. WWU Box Office hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and one hour prior to performances.

Written by Elaine Avila and directed by Kathleen Weiss, “The Ballad of Ginger Goodwin” revolves around Albert "Ginger" Goodwin, a migrant coal miner who found work in the Cumberland mines on Vancouver Island in the early 20^th century. The play features a cast of 10 students portraying a variety of roles including a radical socialist, an Italian laundress and a scientific industrialist, and is about the dreams of immigrants, coal and smelter workers in Canada and the Pacific Northwest, and the battle for worker rights.

Goodwin was an advocate for workers’ rights, organizing and promoting the proliferation of trade unions and it is widely believed that Goodwin was murdered in an attempt to stifle collective bargaining. His death inspired the first general strike in Canada’s history.

Avila became intrigued by the story after spending time on Vancouver Island and noticed how little mention was made of Goodwin in the area where he was once best known. Her plays have premiered all over the world. Notable works include: “Jane Austen, Action Figure,” “Quality: the Shoe Play,” “Lieutenant Nun,” “Burn Gloom,” “Kitimat,” and “Lost in Fado.”

The play also features music of the period, including an original ballad by composer and activist Earle Peach, which Avila said was a large influence for her in this play.

For more information please contact Chris Casquilho, College of Fine and Performing Arts manager of Marketing and Special Events at Western at (360) 650-2829, or chris.casquilho@wwu.edu.