‘In the face of great evil, you have to stand together’: new stage shows mark historic battle of Cable Street

The East End battle of 1936, when the community united to force back Oswald Mosley's fascist forces, has inspired two theatre productions

On a Sunday afternoon in October 1936, Ubby Cowan, a 19-year-old Jewish tailor, put on his prized new Max Baer-style jacket that he had saved hard for and went to fight Oswald Mosley's fascist forces in London's East End.

The battle of Cable Street ended in victory for the coalition of Jews, Irish dockers, trade unions, communists and other anti-racists who insisted that the British Union of Fascists, protected by thousands of police, shall not pass". Cowan ended the day covered in blood, with his precious jacket in shreds after he was kicked through a shop window by a police horse.