Videos from Kyklos Productions: Stage Plays and Documentaries

'Fire on Pier 32' Video

Now available for purchase, the video currently featured by Kyklos Productions is the full length, 2.5 hour DVD of the stage play, "Fire on Pier 32," which was performed to sell out audiences in 2003 in San Francisco.

"Fire on Pier 32" is a three act play written by Jack Rasmus of the National Writers Union. The play is about the longshore workers and their union, the ILWU, from its origin during the maritime and general strikes of 1934 in San Francisco, up to the current period. Thematically, the play is about the meaning of solidarity and the nature of company anti-labor offensives, past and present.

The first act takes place during the 1934 maritime and general strikes in San Francisco. The second act traces the evolution of longshore workers and their union from 1935 to 1971. While the third act addresses the rise of the Bush-Employer anti-labor offensive since 2001. The play takes its title from the actual historic event which occurred in late 1933, depicted in the top left photo, when longshore rank and file militants gathered on Pier 32 in San Francisco to burn their company union "blue" contract books, the act that led to the formation of their own union that became the ILWU.

Merging Labor History and Brechtian Theater

The video of the play was recorded using the original 12 actor cast featured in the stage version of the play, but is not simply a film version of one of the performances of that stage play. Rather, the video was shot with the original cast in a studio following the close of the theater production, and employs close ups, multiple cameras and angles, and other video techniques not possible in a straight-on filming of a stage performance. The 50+ historical photographs from the ILWU Longshore Workers library archive featured in the stage play, several of which can be seen in the righthand column on this webpage, are included in the video as well, but are now presented in a new manner in the video. In the stage version of the play the photos were projected on a 10' x 12' screen at center stage behind the actors. The photos in the video, however, are now presented as a series of photo montage. The resulting appearance is much like that viewed in a PBS special with techniques pioneered by Ken Burns and others, with the photo images fading in and out and integrated with the actors' and their dialogue on stage.

The music and songs in the video are the same performed in the original stage version of the play, with the same arrangements and musical accompaniment and sung by the entire cast of actors on stage, and by the same soloists. See Audio CD & Music for more detailed information about the songs.

(For more information about the play, "Fire on Pier 32," go to Collected Plays).

Kyklos Productions also produces historical, educational and public relations videos for labor unions on a project contract basis. For references for such work from other unions, or for a request for proposal (RFP) from Kyklos Productions to produce a video, contact Jack Rasmus, principal and owner of Kyklos Productions, at rasmus@kyklosproductions.com.

Purchase 'Fire on Pier 32' Video Now $15.00 plus shipping, in your choice of DVD or VHS format. Buy your copy today.

Media Type: DVDVHS

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Questions? email us at rasmus@kyklosproductions.com or call us at 925-828-0792.

Kyklos Productions, L.L.C.
211 Duxbury Court
San Ramon, CA 94583
rasmus@kyklosproductions.com
925-828-0792