- Eight Men Speak
"Eight Men Speak" is a Canadian play written in 1933 by a committee of
Oscar Ryan ,E. Cecil-Smith ,Frank Love andMildred Goldberg . Although the play made only one performance in its initial run, the attempts by the authorities to suppress it backfired into a political embarrassment for the Canadian government and Prime MinisterR. B. Bennett .The
agit-prop play told the story ofTim Buck and his arrest as a communist underSection 98 of theCriminal Code of Canada that made simple association with an organization advocating violent overthrow of the government a crime. Furthermore, it details the apparent assassination attempt on Buck during aprison riot when shots were fired into his cell despite the fact he was not participating in the riot in any way.The play is most noted by the reaction of the local authorities who reacted to the play's one performance at
Toronto 's Standard Theatre on December 4, 1933. The police ordered the play closed and threatened to revoke the theatre's license if the play was performed again. A theatre inWinnipeg had its license revoked to preempt the play being performed there.When the
Progressive Arts Club had a meeting to protest thiscensorship , a former minister,A. E. Smith described the play and its allegations of the attempted assassination of the Communist leader. As a result, Smith was indicted forsedition , but the resulting trial allowed Buck to take the stand and relate the events of the incident in open court. Smith was acquitted and Buck and his comrades were soon released afterward.ee also
*
Tim Buck
*Communist Party of Canada
*Agitprop External links
* [http://www.grubstreetbooks.ca/essays/timbuck2.html Tim Buck Too, pg. 2]
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