The Wash is a new play inspired by the true story of the Atlanta washerwomen’s strike of 1881– the first successful interracial, organized labor strike of the post-Civil War era.
Synopsis: Anna, Jeanie, Thomasine, Jewel, and Charity work 18-hour days washing wealthy people’s unmentionables. Fed up with being paid in rice, beans, and hand-me-downs, the women go on strike, demanding $1 per dozen pounds of wash. Growing from a few dozen women holding the line to more than 3,000 on strike in a few short weeks, they make international headlines and the consequences of their resistance come right to their front door. The Wash offers an intimate and often funny look at ordinary women who fought the system– and won.