While the musical Cable Street narrates the narrative of migrant communities banding together to stop the British Union of Fascists from marching through the largely Jewish area of east London in 1936, song and dance may not be the typical means of discussing the emergence of fascism.
The writers originally penned this piece in 2019. Additionally, he says News, “I believe they were aware that the world was shifting to the right and that far-right leaders were actually gaining power in countries all over the world.”
The 1936 battle of Cable Street serves as the basis for the musical.
The British Union of Fascists attempted to march through the mostly Jewish area of east London on October 4 under the leadership of Nazi sympathiser Sir Oswald Mosley.
Thousands of locals from various towns came together to oppose the violent organization, also known as the Blackshirts, by blocking their march.
At the time, eyewitnesses described “Jews and Orthodox Jews in their long silk coats and felt hats standing shoulder to shoulder with Irish Catholics, dockers, Somali seamen, communists, and trade unionists” .
