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Story: Strikes and labour disputes

Theatre poster, Black Tuesday

The striking gold miner Fred Evans, killed by a mob of strike-breakers and police while defending the Waihī union hall, has become a martyr of the New Zealand union movement. In 2008 Wellington theatre company Theatre Militia wrote and performed a play, Black Tuesday, which used songs, multimedia imagery and physical theatre to show the circumstances of Evans’ death. This poster, designed to resemble newspapers of the period, was used to publicise the play.

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Theatre Militia

by Dylan Mercer

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How to cite this page

Mark Derby, Strikes and labour disputes – The 1912 and 1913 strikes, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/20484/theatre-poster-black-tuesday (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Mark Derby, published 13 May 2010, updated 1 March 2016.