Washington Place

by David Brendan Hopes and David Hopes

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1952720044
• ISBN13: 9781952720048
• Release Date: May 2021
• Publisher: Sublime Theater & Press, Inc
• Length: 82 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Imagined lives from an American tragedy

Washington Place follows a possible day-in-the-life of a few Triangle Shirtwaist Factory workers on March 25th, 1911. The day that ended in the infamous and tragic fire. Most of us have probably heard of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in a history class at some point. It's the disaster that led to many labor reforms still instituted in workplaces today. Hopes' play does not focus on the tragedy but rather a seemingly ordinary day for some of the workers. The character's names and ethnic backgrounds (mostly Jews and Italians) come from their real life counterparts. The majority of these were younger woman in their teens and twenties from immigrant families who were working in appalling conditions. Hopes speculative dialogue breathes life back into these people. We see them as humans as they discuss and banter about their ideals, loves, wants, fears, etc. They can be funny. They can be cruel. They're people like all of us. Some have accepted their lives as is while others look for a brighter future. The brilliancy of the play is that the fire does not happen until the literal last two pages. And while there are some key lines foreshadowing what's to come, these quick beats are part of other conversations. Instead we get to learn about these characters as people. We get to empathize with them whilst forgetting the ending we all know is coming. The poignancy and uncomfortableness of the play as it ends is beautiful. We are left the contemplate not only the lost potential and dreams of the six woman we've been following, but all 146 people who died, in what should have been, a preventable disaster.