The play opens in 1930s Toronto and centres around the real-life character of Jim (Jean) Watts, who was a fiery, non-conventional, self-identifying bisexual young woman, deeply involved in leftist politics. Jim is angered by the deep income and class disparities endured by millions of people during the Depression. When Civil War breaks out in Spain, Jim is adamant that she should fight for the democratically elected Socialist government. Since women can’t travel to Spain as soldiers, Jim applies for a job with the Toronto Clarion newspaper which sends her over as their star reporter. Jim Watts eventually drives an ambulance into the action, making her the only woman to officially join the Canadian unit in Spain, the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion.
Jim Watts: Girl Reporter is a large-cast play that was written for 4th Line Theatre’s expansive outdoor venue but is adaptable to indoor theatres with a smaller cast. Jim travels from Toronto to Madrid, from political rallies to the battlefields of Spain. The cast features a number of familiar characters, including Edward Cecil-Smith, commander of the Mac-Paps, Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, and Dr. Norman Bethune. We also follow the incredible story of another Mac-Pap, Jim Higgins, who saves the life of a young Spanish boy during the bombing of Corbera d’Ebre.
The play is a fascinating exploration of the experience of trailblazing Canadians who illegally flocked to Spain to fight fascism, attempting to stop its political march across Europe. Through the story of Jim Watts, Cooper explores the question: can one person make a difference in the world?
Reviewer Lynn Slotkin writes of the play: “I loved how Beverley Cooper created characters who want to change the world but are overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. But they don’t stop. They are not defeated. They are frustrated and angry, but they are tenacious. We live in a world that is full of the accomplishments of single people who would not be deterred and did in fact change the world.”
Keywords: Fascism, Mackenzie-Papineau, Norman Bethune, Jim (Jean Watts), Spanish Civil War, Dorothy Parker, Lillian Hellman, Martha Gellhorn, Ernest Hemingway, Dorothy Livesay, war
First produced by 4th Line Theatre, Millbrook ON, August 2024
Genre: Drama, Play with Music, Historical/Biographical
Acts: 2
Run time: 110 minutes
Suitable for students 16+
Content notes: Deals with the complicated subject of war. There is a small amount of mild profanity.
Cast size: 30 actors
Male roles: 17
Female roles: 11
Other roles: 2
Musician roles: 1
Casting notes from the playwright:
This play was written for 4th Line Theatre, their sweeping outdoor space and their talented group of professionals, semi-professionals, students and volunteers. We had a very eclectic cast of 30 people, kids, a truck and a dog! Because we had a wonderful Flamenco dancer in the cast, I wrote a section for this beautiful dance. We had one person with a disability in the cast – this is not necessary but it was wonderful to have a show that reflected the community. The character of Jim (Jean) Watts carries the play with everyone else playing many roles. Because of Jim’s gender identity being so much who she was for her time period, she should be played by a woman, however we had several women playing other male roles in the 4th Line production. There are several characters who need to speak Spanish well. Please take the number of characters listed above with a grain of salt, this play could be produced with 30 actors or 15. There is wiggle room on the number of actors required and how the play is produced. Diversity in the casting is welcomed. We also had a live musician supporting the songs.
"...Cooper’s Jim Watts: Girl Reporter is heady, provocative stuff, and a landmark play for 4th Line, considering its rabble-rousing political content."
-- Ludwig Van, Classicalfm.ca
"...hearing and seeing stories told via a theatre experience, stories with relevance to our region and to our country, in a charming, modest, outdoor setting on a real farm near Millbrook, rings with authenticity and then encourages comparison and reflection."
-- Rosemary Ganley, The Peterborough Examiner
