Join us for a special free event! Bread and Roses Missouri's Workers' Theater Project is developing our next premiere play--come hear the play-in-progress before our full production in February, 2026.

A Brick and a Bible tells the story of the 1933 Funsten Nutpickers Strike in St. Louis. Black women, facing low wages, unsafe conditions, and segregation, organized over 2,000 workers across five factories. This act of solidarity, decades before the Civil Rights Movement, positioned St. Louis at the intersection of workers' and civil rights. The strike culminated with an organizer holding a brick and a bible, symbolizing the workers' determination for faith, justice, and direct action. This new play highlights the pivotal role of Black women in the struggle for economic and social justice.

Come hear a staged reading of the play-in-progress, written by St. Louis theatre artists Kathryn Bentley and Colin McLaughlin with original music by Alicia Reve Like, Our staged reading is an important part of the process of getting the play ready for the stage. A group of St. Louis actors under the direction of Jacqueline Thompson will workshop the play the week prior, along with the playwrights and composer.

Our week of development culminates in the reading where you, the audience, have the opportunity to offer feedback to the playwrights as they ready the play for a full production. Be part of the process!

Seating is free, and space is limited! Make your reservation today.

Can't make it? A donation to our Joan Suarez Director's Fund supports getting A Brick and a Bible to the stage for our February production. Donations and reservations can both be made at the button above.

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The Workers' Theater Project develops and stages original plays that chronicle key moments in labor history and the contemporary struggles of working people—from the 1877 St. Louis General Strike, to Jailbird (about Eugene Debs), to Mrs. Palmer’s Honey, a radio play spotlighting WWII-era Black women workers.

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Bread and Roses Missouri amplies and elevates the voices of working people through arts and humanities events. We believe that cultural and creative expression are a means to effect deep and lasting social change. We organize and participate in arts and humanities events, exhibits and workshops for and about workers and their families. We educate and activate participants and audiences toward achieving an economic base that benefits the entire community.

As the labor hymn for which the organization is named reminds us, “Hearts starve as well as bodies…give us bread and give us roses.”

A Brick and a Bible Play Reading

A Workers' Theater Project Special Event