Weeks 33 and 34-Triangle: 1911

I doubled up this week and last week's play because I wanted to write a longer one-act than I usually do.  The title of this piece is Triangle: 1911 and it takes place during the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire that happened in New York City.

The fire, which happened on March 25, 1911 was the deadliest workplace industrial disaster in the history of New York City up until the destruction of the World Trade Center 90 years later.  The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers and spurred massive reforms in labor laws throughout the country.  Most of the workers at the factory were young immigrant women between the ages of 18 and 23, although girls as young as 11 were reported to have worked there.

I've been interested in the fire for a long time.  I played around with different ways to frame the story such as focusing on the manslaughter trial of the two men who owned the factory, the fights between labor workers over whether to unionize, etc.  I finally decided to keep it simple and focus on the stories of the victims (and survivors) of the fire.  Before they were victims, they were real people.  Sometimes it's hard for people to grasp that.  I hope that this play humanizes these brave young workers.