Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Life of 'largely forgotten' union heroine told in one-woman show

A story about a female trade union pioneer who battled for change for women.

The story of an activist whose legacy has been “largely forgotten” despite her pioneering fight for female workers in the 1920s has been captured in a one-woman show.

Chopped Liver & Unions tells the story of Jewish Ukrainian refugee Sara Wesker – a trade unionist and activist who battled to improve the working conditions of female garment workers in London’s East End.

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Sara Wesker, Ukranian Jewish refugee, fought for better pay and conditions for female factory workers in the 20s, then took on the fascists in the Battle of Cable Street in the 1930s (pic: Colin Hattersley)

She was known for leading women in a 12-week strike in 1928, which became known as the Singing Strikers. With no income or savings, the women sang on the picket lines in return for coins from passers-by.

Ms Wesker later went on to fight in the 1936 Battle of Cable Street when East Enders united to prevent Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists, who were under police protection, from marching on their communities.

Lottie Walker plays Ms Wesker in the play, which was written by J.J. Leppink. She performs some of the songs sung on the picket lines almost a century ago.

Ms Walker, herself an EastEnder and the child of trade unionists, said Ms Wesker’s story and the production had relevance to 2023’s year of strikes and the ongoing efforts for reaching equality in the workplace.

Lottie Walker plays Sara in Chopped Liver & Unions, by J.J. Leppink, at theSpace on the Mile until 26 August as part of the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe (pic: Colin Hattersley)

“This is a woman we should all know about,” she said. "She sacrificed everything for the cause. And these are people, times and places that deserve to be remembered."

The performance takes place at theSpace on the Mile until August 26.