Play Eight, Which Side Are You On, Part 1 Summary

The narrator sets the scene, 34 years after the events of the previous play. The action is set in and around the United Mine Workers Union Hall.

Joshua, now in his mid-40s, speaks to a crowd of out-of-work miners. He tells them he knows they're in trouble, angry and frustrated. He knows how that feels because it was exactly the way the miners who first formed the union felt, and that at the union's darkest hour, Abe Steinman reminded them that the union was like family, and family always took care of its own. Joshua leads the crowd in a chant of "UNION! UNION!" that becomes louder and louder, filling the blackout that follows with sound.

In Scene 1, the crowd clears and Joshua's wife Margaret in an armchair with...