Labor's Martyr: The Story of Joe Hill [Performance 1]

Labor's Martyr tells the story of Joe Hill, a Swedish immigrant and itinerant worker who wrote new lyrics to old hymns—like an early 20th century “Weird Al” Yankovic—to spread the word of his union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). In one song, “The Preacher and The Slave,” he coined the phrase, “Pie in the sky.” Hill was later arrested, tried, and executed for a murder he did not commit.

This original musical was written by Dr. Stephen A. Schrum (Emeritus Associate Professor of Theatre and recent retiree from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, as well as Artistic Director of Storyz), with Glenn Plummer, a resident of Westmoreland County. The original musical consists of songs written by Mr. Plummer as well as those of Joe Hill and others. The text includes speeches and writings by Joe Hill and his contemporaries, such as William “Big Bill” Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, both union organizers.

The play, though set in the early 1900s, reflects our present era with references to topics such as immigration, income inequality, wage slavery, unions and anti-union sentiment, the concept of being guilty until proven innocent, monopolies and mergers, and democracy vs. theocracy.