Friday To-Do: 'The Triangle Factory Fire Project'
‘THE TRIANGLE FACTORY FIRE PROJECT’7:30 p.m., Weekend Theater. $10-$14
Nearly a hundred years ago, a fire in New York City’s largest shirtwaist factory took only half an hour to kill 146 workers, who either got caught by the flames or died as a result of jumping out of windows or down elevator shafts. It remains the largest industrial disaster in the city’s history. The play, by Christopher Piehler with Scott Alan Evans, tracks the background of the factory — most of its employees were young immigrant women working long hours for little pay — and the headline-dominating trial that followed the fire, where the factory owners, who kept exit doors locked and let flammable fabrics pile up in the building, escaped criminal charges for the deaths, but were forced to pay civil penalties. The fire and its aftermath gave the labor movement the impetus and strength to successfully push for a lot of the labor standards we enjoy today. Frank Butler directs the social commentary, which runs through October 13.
