Voices from the Federal Theatre

by Bonnie Nelson Schwartz, Robert Brustein (Foreword)

    The Federal Theatre Project, a 1930s relief project of the Roosevelt administration, brought more theater to more people in every corner of America that at any time in U.S. history. The Project had units in every region of the country, including groundbreaking African American troupes, and staged productions from daring dramas like The Voodoo Macbeth , Waiting for Lefty , and The Cradle Will Rock to musicals, vaudeville, and puppet shows. It was canceled in a firestorm of controversy that gave birth to the damning "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist party?"
    This book documents that vibrant, colorful, politically explosive time, which gave rise to bitter debates about the role of government in American art and culture. It includes interviews with such Federal Theatre actors, playwrights, directors, designers, producers, and dancers as Arthur Miller, Studs Terkel, Jules Dassin, Katherine Dunham, Rosetta Lenoire, John Houseman, and many others.
     Voices from the Federal Theatre is a tie-in with the public televison special Who Killed the Federal Theatre? hosted by Judd Hirsch and coproduced by Schwartz with the Educational Film Center.

Genres: Theatre

200 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 2003

Reviews

[MH · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slim collection of glowing reminiscences about the short-lived Federal Theatre Project from a wide variety of the project's participants, some famous (Arthur Miller, Katherine Dunham, John Houseman), some just jobbing showfolk who were thankful for the work. The first person accounts are interesting and mostly engaging (if occasionally a bit muddled by time or self-serving - a few actors, as always, give themselves a bit too much credit), the breadth of the project is nicely represented, and Schwartz provides a generous number of terrific archival photographs from the period.

[Gusmenary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enthralling and interesting. Should be required reading for anyone who even pretends to have a working knowledge about the history of theatre in America. In interviews, press excerpts and analyzation of the socio-political time frame, Bonnie Nelson Schwartz paints a vivid and interesting picture of the rise and fall of one of the most creative, innovative and influential federal programs in this nations' theatrical history. On a personal note- what I wouldn't give for Obama to bring back this program!