Polarisation in today's world bears a striking resemblance to the political climate of 1936. Spain was a republic when a military uprising against the democratically elected Popular Front government led to a devastating war. Solidarity was immediate: 60,000 men and women from some 50 countries volunteered to fight with the Republic in the International Brigades.

In this featured session, award-winning playwright Gloria Montero brings The Unknown Soldier to life through performance, telling the story of how the 1929 Crash and the subsequent Depression force a musical prodigy from Canada beyond his piano. His reality leads him to the Spanish Civil War. The performance portrays how political upheaval shapes individual lives and highlights international solidarity, themes that remain relevant today.

Speaker Biography

Gloria Montero

Ms Gloria Montero is a novelist, playwright, and poet who grew up in a family of Spanish immigrants in North Queensland, Australia. After completing her studies in theatre and music, Ms Montero began working in radio and theatre, later moving to Canada, where she continued her career as an actress, singer, writer, scriptwriter, and broadcaster.

Ms Montero is the Co-founder of the Centre for Spanish-Speaking Peoples in Toronto, which was established in 1972. She served as a consultant on Immigrant Women to the Multicultural Department of the Secretary of State, Government of Canada in 1973. She has organised international conferences, including ‘Amnistia’ in 1970 and ‘Solidaridad’ in Toronto in 1974. Ms Montero has also consulted on film, including her serving as a consultant-interviewer on Dreams and Nightmares (A-O Productions, California), a film that won international awards in Florence, Moscow, Leipzig, and at the American Film Festival in 1975. Her film Crisis in the Rain (Montero-Fulton Productions) won the Gold Camera Award at the American Film Festival in 1982.

Since 1978, Ms Montero has been living in Barcelona, where she has continued to write and publish. Best known among her theatre works is the award-winning ‘Frida K.’, which has toured Canada and held international performances in New York, Mexico, Spain, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, and Latvia.

About the Presenter(s)
Ms Montero is the Co-founder of the Centre for Spanish-Speaking Peoples in Toronto, which was established in 1972.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Friday Schedule

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