Union deputy KATIE DE RORRE's and entrepreneur WILLIAM LESTER's families' bedtime routines are interrupted by alarms signaling a collapse at the Big Muddy coal pit. Such disasters are common to pit mining, one reason why the Lesters have purchased land in Herrin. Idealists of modest means, they have taken on massive debt to prove that profitability can arise from offering workers loyalty, good pay, and a safe work environment. All Herrin works through the night to rescue the trapped miners. Tensions rise when the union votes to join a nationwide strike, and the Lesters must choose between working a site proven rich with coal and threatened bank foreclosure. After negotiations with union leadership fail, Estelle calls on her brother-in-law in Chicago to recruit replacement workers from the Steamshoveler's Union, where the Lesters' promise of better conditions and wages entices the membership to cross the United Mine Workers' picket lines. Defiant and angry, the miners gather. Katie urges collective bargaining, but HUGH WILLIS' populist rhetoric and the calculated absence of local authority provoke a riot. Attempts to negotiate a peaceful truce come too late, and the long-suffering townspeople vent their fury on Estelle's brother-in-law and the other steamshovelers, ultimately parading the town's children past the dead bodies to teach them "how we treat scabs." No one is convicted in the aftermath. Neither the DeRorres nor the Lesters recognize their erstwhile community.
Hugh Willis, President of United Mine Workers (UMW) Local 271 – an adept, self important politician, 30s-60s baritenor• Katie DeRorre, Vice President of UMW Local 271 – the union’s conscience and caretaker, 20s-40s, Dolly-esque or Ronstadty country mezzo
Joe De Rorre, miner & UMW member, Katie's spouse and helpmeet, 20s-40s• Leva Mann, miner & UMW member – a tough broad and hard-nosed miner, 20s-30s brassy mezzalto• Orrin Mann, miner & UMW member – Leva's hard-luck brother, 20s-30s
Bert Grace, miner & UMW member – a hothead, Otis’ mine partner & best friend (African-American if Otis is cast as white), 20s-30s tenor• Otis Clark, miner & UMW member – Bert's mine partner, best friend & hype man (African-American if Bert is cast as white), 20s-30s, baritone
William Lester, owner of the Southern Illinois Mining Co., a bourgeois idealist, gruff, stiff lipped and stubborn, late 20s-40s, baritone• Estelle Lester, owner of the Southern Illinois Mining Co., William's Lady MacBeth, late 20s-40s, mezzosoprano
C.K. McDowell, superintendent of the Southern Illinois Mining Co. – a ruthless, loyal employee, 20s• Sheriff Melvin Thaxton, chief Williamson County law officer and adept politician• Father Hart, First United Methodist Church guest preacher of prosperity gospel, tenor
Col. Samuel Hunter, Illinois National Guard – the state’s conscience and caretaker, tenor• John Shoemaker, Estelle's sister's husband and International Brotherhood of Steam Shovel and Dredgemen (IBSSD) leader, late 20s-50s tenor• Howard Hoffman, strip miner & IBSSD member thrown on desperation, 20s-60s tenor
Bernard Jones, strip miner & IBSSD member trying to make a living, 20s-60s bass• Franklin, a more cautious IBSSD member, 20s-40s baritenorThe remaining roles -- various mine workers and townspeople -- are largely interchangeable and, excepting the all-female Ladies' Auxiliary, should preferably be cast in a manner that reflects sonic, race, and gender diversity. Even with doubling, the show requires a cast of at least 25 people.
Guitar 1: Banjo, Electric, or Acoustic Guitar, Guitar 2: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Bass: Double Bass, Electric Bass, or Cello, Strings 1: Violin, Strings 2: Violin 2, Strings 3: Viola, Brass: Trumpet or Cornet (with mute) and Horn, Keyboard: Organ, Piano, and/or Accordion, Reed: Accordion or HarmonicaPercussion 1: Drum Kit, Percussion 2: Clave, sticks, SFX