Rochdale by David Yee

Rochdale is a historical fiction set in 1969, based on Toronto’s infamous experiment in co-operative housing and alternative education that was Rochdale College. Described as a “hippie haven” by the media of the time, Rochdale started as an idyllic sanctuary from capitalist institutions, but quickly devolved into a den of scandal, drugs and violence. The play takes place at the precipice of that fall from grace, capturing the visionary intentions of its ideologues and the catastrophic consequences of their failures.