The Home Workshop Club at Theatre Box

A WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION!

The entire play takes place in The Home Workshop Club meeting room over the span of two meeting nights in 1958 in a small town. Years ago, men returning from the war banded together to share tools when they began to build their houses. Over the years, the club evolved into a social club for men as it appears in the play.

To quote one of the characters in the play, the club has: “men from all walks of life, men who know many things. We’ve got educated men, and working men. Rich men and poor men. We’ve got older, wiser men, and some young men still figuring it all out. We’ve got men who carry great responsibilities, and men who are almost completely free.”

The club has a long history of fun, good times, good food, and of course, a traditional punch. There are tall tales told, good-natured taunting, and small-town legends recounted. Many of the men are affiliated with a local ceramics plant, either as workers in the factory or in office jobs. Others who do not work at the plant are professional men and community residents.

While the brotherhood is the driving force in the work, tension occurs in the membership due to labor difficulties at the plant. A strike is looming, and the possibility sets the membership at odds with union members and professional men taking sides against each other.

Even though the good times and merriment continue, there is an underlying tension in the club that eventually erupts into anger and frustration. When the strike is declared, the acrimony increases. It is left to some of the wisest members to remind the membership why they have the club, and how valuable an institution it is.

One might be tempted to see the play as a metaphor for all types of class struggles, but it would be wise to consider the fact and not dwell on it. These are men, in 1958, who do the things men did in that time. And mostly, they tell stories.