BTL:Commemorate May Day, with "Inquisitions," a radio play dramatizing...

...the struggle for workers rights and civil liberties.

Dear IMC & Radio Friends,

This note, from the producers of Between The Lines Radio Newsmagazine, contains important information about a radio play titled "Inquisitions (and Other Un-American Activities,)" written by our colleague Greg Guma, editor of the Vermont Guardian, Winooski, VT and former editor of Toward Freedom magazine. In 2004, "Inquisitions" aired on more than 20 radio stations in 15 states.

This 120-minute audio drama (perfect for your May Day broadcast schedule if you're with a radio station or Internet webcast), recounts the history of the movement for an 8-hour workday, the Haymarket bombing and the Palmer Raids, relating the struggle for social justice and free speech of that era to today's post-September 11th Bush/Ashcroft assault on civil liberties and dissent. This audio production is now available to non-commercial radio stations free for broadcast and to listeners for purchase.

For more details, read the press release below or visit our website at http://www.squeakywheel.net/inquisitions.html

An audio sample of this timely play can be heard by clicking these links: RealAudio: http://www.squeakywheel.net/inquisitions.ram, MP3: http://www.squeakywheel.net/inquisitions.mp3

RADIO STATIONS/WEBCASTERS: If you wish to broadcast "Inquisitions," email us at info@squeakywheel.net or call (203) 268-8446 to register and get access to free MP3 audio files of this radio play.

We hope your radio station will consider scheduling a broadcast of "Inquisitions," a thought-provoking audio drama providing listeners with historical perspectives on the challenges to America's Bill of Rights and government tolerance of dissent.

Or

LISTENERS:
For copies of the CD set, e-mail mavmedia@aol.com or send $24 to Greg
Guma, Maverick Media, 65 Hickok St., Winooski, VT 05404.

In the spirit of audio revolution,

Scott Harris & Anna Manzo * Squeaky Wheel Productions, * distributors of Between The Lines Radio Newsmagazine * betweenthelines@snet.net * (203) 268-8446

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A Brief History of May Day

The very first "May Day" occurred in Chicago on May 1, 1886. On that date, thousands marched peacefully in Chicago for the 8-hour workday.

Later that day, in a strike at the McCormick Harvester plant, six workers fighting scabs on a picket line were killed. The next day, a protest was held at Chicago's Haymarket Square, where a bomb exploded, killing eight police officers.

Eight anarchists were tried for the bombing and sentenced to death despite a lack of evidence or witnesses - and a worldwide movement which rose up to oppose their conviction. Four were hung, one committed suicide and the remaining three were released.

Those events in history led to the observance of May Day as an international workers holiday outside the U.S. But here in America, May Day has been marginalized by corporations and their political allies as a "foreign" holiday. "Labor Day" was placed on the calendar in September and May Day became "Law Day."

- -adapted from the writings of Richard Gibson and Eric Chase

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"Inquisitions (and Other Un-American Activities" Dissent and Its Enemies: Epic Drama Released for Radio

 A play that dramatizes attacks on free speech and civil liberties is now available for radio broadcast and sale as a compact disk set.

 With the interrogation of activist Lucy Parsons during the 1919 Palmer raids as its framework, "Inquisitions (and Other Un-American Activities)" is a dynamic audio production that explores timely themes through a dramatic recreation of the movement for an eight-hour workday, the Haymarket bombing, and hanging of four activists. It was recorded in May, 2003 at City Hall in Burlington, Vermont, on the 117th anniversary of the infamous 1886 bombing. In 2004, "Inquisitions" aired on more than 20 radio stations in 15 states.

 "Inquisitions..." is the result of more than a decade of research, and includes characters like radical organizer Albert Parsons, business tycoons like Marshall Field and John D. Rockefeller, plus muckraker Henry Demarest Lloyd and J. Edgar Hoover at the start of his FBI career.

According to a review by David Warner in the Vermont weekly newspaper, Seven Days, the new play is “inarguably timely now, as the contradictory demands of national security and civil liberties are once more at odds." Illuminating the past, it raises thorny questions about the threats to freedom when dissent is considered a crime.

“Inquisitions (and Other Un-American Activities)” was co-produced by the Catalyst Theatre Company and Toward Freedom, a Vermont-based media education organization. Written by Greg Guma, directed by Bill Boardman, and performed by a 20-person cast, the production runs two hours with intermissions, but also can be broadcast in two or three installments.

To arrange a broadcast date, contact Anna Manzo at (203) 268-8446 or email info@squeakywheel.net

To stage a local production or stage your own public reading of this timely drama, contact Greg Guma at MavMedia@aol.com. For a copy of the script, send $15 to Greg Guma, Maverick Media, 65 Hickok St. Winooski, VT 05404, send $20 to Toward Freedom, P.O. Box 468, Burlington, VT 05402.

For copies of the CD set, e-mail mavmedia@aol.com or send $24 to Greg Guma, Maverick Media, 65 Hickok St., Winooski, VT 05404.

~~

Between the Lines Squeaky Wheel Productions, Inc.

P.O. Box 110176 Trumbull, CT 06611

(203) 268-8446

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"Between the Lines," a syndicated weekly radio news magazine can be heard on 35 radio stations worldwide and is archived on our website in MP3 or RealAudio at http://www.btlonline.org

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