View source for Federal Theatre Project

{{Short description|USA theatre company 1935–1939}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
[[File:Flanagan-Federal-Theatre-Map.jpg|thumb|National director [[Hallie Flanagan]] with bulletin boards identifying Federal Theatre Project productions under way throughout the United States]]
The '''Federal Theatre Project''' ('''FTP'''; 1935–1939) was a [[theatre]] program established during the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] as part of the [[New Deal]] to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the [[United States]]. It was one of five [[Federal Project Number One]] projects sponsored by the [[Works Progress Administration]], created not as a cultural activity but as a relief measure to employ artists, writers, directors, and theater workers. National director [[Hallie Flanagan]] shaped the FTP into a federation of regional theaters that created relevant art, encouraged experimentation in new forms and techniques, and made it possible for millions of Americans to see live theatre for the first time.<ref name=":1"/> Although The Federal Theatre project consumed only 0.5% of the allocated budget from the WPA and was widely considered a commercial and critical success, the project became a source of heated political contention. Congress responded to the project's racial integration and accusations of Communist infiltration and cancelled its funding effective June 30, 1939.<ref name="Ross"/>{{sfn|Sheridan|Leslie|1997|p=50–52}} One month before the project's end, drama critic [[Brooks Atkinson]] summarized: "Although the Federal Theatre is far from perfect, it has kept an average of ten thousand people employed on work that has helped to lift the dead weight from the lives of millions of Americans. It has been the best friend the theatre as an institution has ever had in this country."<ref>{{cite news |last=Atkinson |first=Brooks |author-link=Brooks Atkinson |date=May 28, 1939 |title=FDR's WPA FTP; At Moderate Box Office Prices the Theatre-Going Public Is Inexhaustible |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/05/28/archives/fdrs-wpa-ftp-at-moderate-box-office-prices-the-theatregoing-public.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=January 31, 2023}}</ref>

==Background==
{{multiple image
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<!-- Image 1 -->
| image1 = Barber-Macbeth-1936.jpg
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = Philip W. Barber, New York City director of the Federal Theatre Project, at the opening of ''[[Voodoo Macbeth|Macbeth]]'' (April 14, 1936)
<!-- Image 2 -->
| image2 = Salut-au-Monde-Helen-Tamiris.jpg
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = Poster for ''Salut au Monde'' (1936), an original dance drama by [[Helen Tamiris]] for the Federal Dance Theatre, a division of the Federal Theatre Project
<!-- Image 3 -->
| image3 = Circus-Lancaster-Cravat.jpg
| alt3 = 
| caption3 = [[Burt Lancaster]] and partner [[Nick Cravat]] with the Federal Theatre Circus (1935–1938)
<!-- Image 4 -->
| image4 = Cradle Will Rock Rehearsal 370-9.jpg
| alt4 = 
| caption4 = Choreographer Clarence Yates rehearsing Olive Stanton and the cast of ''[[The Cradle Will Rock]]'' (1937)
<!-- Image 5 -->
| image5 = Power-18-Noack-Lloyd.jpg
| alt5 = 
| caption5 = The Man Who Knows All (Robert Noack) explains the kilowatt hour to the Consumer ([[Norman Lloyd]]) in the Living Newspaper play, ''Power'' (1937)
}}
{{quotation|We let out these works on the vote of the people.|Motto of the Federal Theatre Project, from an inscription at the third century B.C. Greek theatre on [[Delos]]<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|5}}}}
Part of the Works Progress Administration, the Federal Theatre Project was a New Deal program established August 27, 1935,<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|29}} funded under the [[Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935]]. Of the [[United States Dollar|$]]4.88 billion allocated to the WPA,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=14926 |title=Letter on Allocation of Work Relief Funds |last=Roosevelt |first=Franklin D.  |author-link=Franklin Delano Roosevelt |date=August 26, 1935 |website=The American Presidency Project |publisher=Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley |access-date=2015-03-04}}</ref> $27 million was approved for the employment of [[Federal Art Project|artists]], [[Federal Music Project|musicians]], [[Federal Writers' Project|writers]] and actors under the WPA's [[Federal Project Number One]].<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|44}}

Government relief efforts funding theatre through the [[Federal Emergency Relief Administration]] and [[Civil Works Administration]] in the two preceding years were amateur experiments regarded as charity, not a theatre program. The Federal Theatre Project was a new approach to unemployment in the theatre profession. Only those certified as employable could be offered work, and that work was to be within the individual's defined skills and trades.<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|15–16}}

"For the first time in the relief experiments of this country the preservation of the skill of the worker, and hence the preservation of his self-respect, became important," wrote [[Hallie Flanagan]], director of the Federal Theatre Project.<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|17}} A theater professor at [[Vassar College]] who had studied the operation of government-sponsored theatre abroad for the [[John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation|Guggenheim Foundation]],<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|9}} Flanagan was chosen to lead the Federal Theatre Project by WPA head [[Harry Hopkins]].<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|20}}<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1997-06-01 |title=Letters |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/maghis/11.4.56-a |journal=OAH Magazine of History |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=56 |doi=10.1093/maghis/11.4.56-a |issn=0882-228X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Flanagan and Hopkins had been classmates at [[Grinnell College]].<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|7}} Roosevelt and Hopkins selected her despite considerable pressure to choose someone from the commercial theatre industry; they believed the project should be led by someone with academic credentials and a national perspective.<ref name="Ross"/>{{Rp|39}}
Flanagan had the daunting task of building a nationwide theater program to employ thousands of unemployed artists in as little time as possible. The Theatre industry had struggled financially prior to the financial collapse of 1929. By that time it was already threatened with extinction due to the growing popularity of films and radio, but the commercial theatre was reluctant to adapt its practices.<ref name="Ross"/>{{Rp|38}} Many actors, technicians and stagehands had suffered since [[1914 in film|1914]], when movies began to replace [[Repertory theatre|stock]], [[vaudeville]] and other live stage performances nationwide. [[Sound film#Triumph of the "talkies"|Sound motion pictures]] displaced 30,000 musicians. In the [[Great Depression]], people with little money for entertainment found an entire evening of entertainment at the movies for 25 cents, while commercial theatre charged $1.10 to $2.20 admission to cover the cost of theater rental, advertising and fees to performers and union technicians. Unemployed directors, actors, designers, musicians and stage crew took any kind of work they were able to find, whatever it paid, and charity was often their only recourse.<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|13–14}}

"This is a tough job we're asking you to do," Hopkins told Flanagan at their first meeting in May 1935. "I don't know why I still hang on to the idea that unemployed actors get just as hungry as anybody else."<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|7–9}}

Hopkins promised "a free, adult, uncensored theatre"<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|28}} — something Flanagan spent the next four years trying to build.<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|29}} She emphasized the development of local and regional theatre, "to lay the foundation for the development of a truly creative theatre in the United States with outstanding producing centers in each of those regions which have common interests as a result of geography, language origins, history, tradition, custom, occupations of the people."<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|22–23}}

==Operation==
On October 24, 1935, Flanagan prefaced her instructions on the Federal Theatre's operation with a statement of purpose:

<blockquote>The primary aim of the Federal Theatre Project is the reemployment of theatre workers now on public relief rolls: actors, directors, playwrights, designers, vaudeville artists, stage technicians, and other workers in the theatre field. The far reaching purpose is the establishment of theatres so vital to community life that they will continue to function after the program of this Federal Project is completed.<ref name="Instructions">{{cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=ftscript&fileName=farbf/00010002/ftscript.db&recNum=2 |title=Instructions for Federal Theatre Projects of the Works Progress Administration |last=Flanagan |first=Hallie |date=October 24, 1935 |website=New Deal Stage |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=2015-03-08}}</ref></blockquote>

Within a year the Federal Theatre Project employed 15,000 men and women,<ref name="Houseman RT"/>{{Rp|174}} paying them $23.86 a week while the [[Actors' Equity Association|Actors Equity Association's]] minimum was $40.00.<ref name="NYT New Deal doc">{{cite news |last=Dunning |first=Jennifer  |author-link=Jennifer Dunning |date=July 5, 1981 |title='New Deal' Artists Star in a TV Documentary |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/05/arts/new-deal-artists-star-in-a-tv-documentary.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2015-02-27}}</ref> These men and women would only do six performances a week and have only four hours per day to rehearse.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Federal Theatre, 1935-1939: Plays, Relief, and Politics|jstor=j.ctt13x1bqq |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt13x1bqq|last1=Mathews |first1=Jane Dehart |year=1967 |publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref> During its nearly four years of existence 30 million people attended FTP productions in more than 200 theaters nationwide<ref name="Houseman RT">{{cite book |last=Houseman |first=John |author-link=John Houseman |title=Run-Through: A Memoir |url=https://archive.org/details/runthroughmemoir00hous |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |date=1972 |isbn=0-671-21034-3}}</ref>{{Rp|174}} — renting many that had been shuttered — as well as parks, schools, churches, clubs, factories, hospitals and closed-off streets.<ref name="Ross"/>{{Rp|40}} Its productions totaled approximately 1,200, not including its radio programs.<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|432}} Because the Federal Theatre was created to employ and train people, not to generate revenue, no provision was made for the receipt of money when the project began. At its conclusion, 65 percent of its productions were still presented free of charge.<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|434}} The total cost of the Federal Theatre Project was $46 million.<ref name="Ross">{{cite journal|last=Ross|first=Ronald|date=January 1974|title=The Role of Blacks in the Federal Theatre, 1935–1939|journal=The Journal of Negro History|volume=59|issue=1|pages=38–50|jstor=2717139|doi=10.2307/2717139|s2cid=150210872}}</ref>{{Rp|40}}

"In any consideration of the cost of the Federal Theatre," Flanagan wrote, "it should be borne in mind that the funds were allotted, according to the terms of the Relief Act of 1935, to pay wages to unemployed people. Therefore, when Federal Theatre was criticized for spending money, it was criticized for doing what it was set up to do."<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|34–35}}

The FTP established five regional centers in [[New York, New York]], [[Boston]] (Northeast), [[Chicago]] (Midwest), [[Los Angeles]] (West), and [[New Orleans]] (South).<ref>[https://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/6858/umi-umd-4347.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y UMD ]- Retrieved 2018-05-02</ref> The FTP did not operate in every state, since many lacked a sufficient number of unemployed people in the theatre profession.<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|434}} The project in Alabama was closed in January 1937 when its personnel were transferred to a new unit in Georgia. Only one event was presented in Arkansas. Units created in Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin were closed in 1936; projects in Indiana, Nebraska, Rhode Island and Texas were discontinued in 1937; and the Iowa project was closed in 1938.<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|434–436}}

Many of the notable artists of the time participated in the Federal Theatre Project, including [[Susan Glaspell]] who served as Midwest bureau director.<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|266}} The legacy of the Federal Theatre Project can also be found in beginning the careers of a new generation of theater artists. [[Arthur Miller]], [[Orson Welles]], [[John Houseman]], [[Martin Ritt]], [[Elia Kazan]], [[Joseph Losey]], [[Marc Blitzstein]] and [[Abe Feder]] are among those who became established, in part, through their work in the Federal Theatre.  Blitzstein, Houseman, Welles and Feder collaborated on the controversial production, ''[[The Cradle Will Rock]]''.

==Living Newspaper==
{{main|Living Newspaper}}
[[Living Newspaper]]s were plays written by teams of researchers-turned-playwrights. These men and women clipped articles from newspapers about current events, often hot button issues like [[farm]] policy, [[syphilis]] (spirochete) infection, the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]], and [[Housing discrimination in the United States|housing inequity]]. These newspaper clippings were adapted into plays intended to inform audiences, often with [[progressivism|progressive]] or left-wing themes. ''[[Triple-A Plowed Under]],'' for instance, attacked the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] for killing the [[Agricultural Adjustment Act]]. These politically themed plays quickly drew criticism from members of [[United States Congress|Congress]].{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Although the undisguised political invective in the Living Newspaper productions sparked controversy, they also proved popular with audiences.  As an art form, the Living Newspaper is perhaps the Federal Theatre's most well-known work.

Problems with the Federal Theatre Project and Congress intensified when the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] objected to the first Living Newspaper, ''Ethiopia'', about [[Haile Selassie]] and his nation's struggles against [[Benito Mussolini]]'s [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War|invading Italian forces]]. The U.S. government soon mandated that the FTP, a government agency, could not depict foreign heads of state on the stage for fear of diplomatic backlash. Playwright and director [[Elmer Rice]], head of the New York office of the FTP, resigned in protest and was succeeded by his assistant, Philip W. Barber.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

===New productions===
Numbers following the city of origin indicate the number of additional cities where the play was presented.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Title
! Author
! City
! Dates
|-
| ''Highlights of 1935''
| Living Newspaper staff
| New York
| May 12–30, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|390}}
|-
| ''Injunction Granted''
| Living Newspaper staff
| New York
| July 24–October 20, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|390}}
|-
| ''Living Newspaper, First Edition''
| [[Cleveland Bronner]]
| [[Norwalk, Connecticut|Norwalk, Conn.]]
| June 1–July 2, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|390}}
|-
| ''Living Newspaper, Second Edition''
| Cleveland Bronner
| Norwalk, Conn.
| August 18–25, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|390}}
|-
| ''The Living Newspaper''
| Project staff
| Cleveland
| March 11–28, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|390}}
|-
| ''[[One-Third of a Nation]]''
| [[Arthur Arent]]
| New York + 9
| January 17–October 22, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|390}}
|-
| ''Power''
| Arthur Arent
| New York + 4
| February 23–July 10, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|390}}
|-
| ''Spirochete''
|[[Arnold Sundgaard]]
| Chicago + 4
| April 29–June 4, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|390}}
|-|-
| ''Triple-A Plowed Under''
| Living Newspaper staff
| New York + 4
| March 14–May 2, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|390}}
|}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160px">
File:Triple-A-Plowed-Under-Poster-1.jpg
File:Injunction-Granted-Poster-1936.jpg
File:Power-Living-Newspaper-Poster-1937.jpg
File:One-Third-of-a-Nation-Poster-1.jpg
File:Spirochete-Poster-1938.jpg
File:One-Third-of-a-Nation-Poster-2.jpg

</gallery>

==African-American theatre==

{{multiple image
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<!-- Image 1 -->
| image1    = SCene from The Show-Off, 1937.jpg
| alt1      =
| caption1  = [[Dooley Wilson]] (center) in ''[[The Show-Off]]'' (1937)
<!-- Image 2 -->
| image2    =One-Act-Plays-of-the-Sea-1937.jpg
| alt2      =
| caption2  =[[Canada Lee]] (top row center) in a revival of four one-act plays of the sea by [[Eugene O'Neill]] (1937)
}}

Capitalizing on the FTP's national network and inherent diversity of artists, the Federal Theatre established specific chapters dedicated to showcasing and celebrating the work of previously under-represented artists. Including the French Theatre in Los Angeles, the German Theater in New York City, and the Negro Theatre Unit which had several chapters across the country, with its largest office in New York City.<ref name="Ross"/> The FTP set up 17 so-called Negro Theatre Units (NTU) in cities throughout the United States. The NTU had additional offices in Hartford, Boston, Salem, Newark, and Philadelphia in the East; Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles in the West; Cleveland, Detroit, Peoria, and Chicago in the Midwest; and Raleigh, Atlanta, Birmingham, and New Orleans in the South. There were additional units in San Francisco, Oklahoma, Durham, Camden, and Buffalo. By the project's conclusion, 22 American cities had served as headquarters for black theater units.{{sfn|Sheridan|Leslie|1997|p=50–52}}

The New York Negro Theatre Unit was the most well known. Two of the four federal theaters in New York City—Lafayette Theatre and the Negro Youth Theater— were dedicated to the Harlem community with the intention of developing unknown theatre artists.<ref name="Ross"/>

Both theatre projects were headquartered at the [[Lafayette Theatre (Harlem)|Lafayette Theatre]] in Harlem, where some 30 plays were presented. The first was [[Frank H. Wilson]]'s folk drama, ''Walk Together Chillun'' (1936), about the deportation of 100 African-Americans from the South to the North to work for low wages. The second was ''Conjur' Man Dies'' (1936), a comedy-mystery adapted by [[Arna Bontemps]] and [[Countee Cullen]] from [[Rudolph Fisher]]'s novel. The most popular production was the third, which came to be called the ''[[Voodoo Macbeth]]'' (1936), director [[Orson Welles]]'s adaptation of Shakespeare's play set on a mythical island suggesting the Haitian court of King [[Henri Christophe]].<ref name="A to Z">{{cite book |last=Hill |first=Anthony D.  |date=2009 |title=The A to Z of African American Theater|location=Lanham |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group |isbn=9780810870611}}</ref>{{Rp|179–180}}

The New York Negro Theatre Unit also oversaw projects from the African American Dance Unit featuring [[Nigerians|Nigerian]] artists displaced by the [[Ethiopia crisis 1935|Ethiopian Crisis]]. These projects employed over 1,000 black actors and directors.<ref name="Ross"/> The Negro Actors' Guild of America incorporated on October 1, 1936 in the state of New York. The ten Articles for the Certificate of Incorporation addressed the welfare, appreciation and development of black artists.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dewberry |first=Jonathan |title=Black Actors Unite: The Negro Actors' Guild |date=1990 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41067679 |journal=The Black Scholar |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=2–11 |doi=10.1080/00064246.1990.11412962 |jstor=41067679 |issn=0006-4246|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The Federal Theatre Project was distinguished for its focus on racial injustice. Flanagan expressly ordered her subordinates to follow the WPA policy against racial prejudice. In fact when it came to making decisions on a national level for the project, the Federal Theatre Regulation mandated that "there may be racial representation in all national planning." A specific example of the FTP's adherence to an anti-prejudicial environment came when a white project manager in Dallas was fired for attempting to segregate black and white theater technicians on a railroad car. Additionally, the white assistant director of the project was pulled because "he was unable to work amicably" with the black artists.<ref name="Ross"/>

The FTP overtly sought out relationships with the African American community including [[Carter G. Woodson|Carter Woodson]] of the [[Association for the Study of Negro Life and History]], as well as [[Walter Francis White|Walter White]] of the [[NAACP]]. One of the existing stipulations from the Works Progress Administration for employment in the FTP was prior professional theater experience. However, when encountered with 40 young jobless black playwrights, national director Hallie Flanagan waived the WPA requirement in the interest of providing a platform and training ground for new young playwrights. During a national conference Flanagan proposed that the leadership of the Harlem chapter of the FTP be led by an African American artist. Rose McClendon, an established actor at the time, publicly argued against this proposal and instead suggested that initially an established white theater artist take the mantle with the understanding and intention of satisfying the WPA's prior professional theater experience clause and giving way to black artists to lead the chapter.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Dewberry|first=Jonathan|date=March 1990|title=Black Actors Unite: The Negro Actors' Guild|journal=The Black Scholar|volume=21|issue=2|pages=2–11|doi=10.1080/00064246.1990.11412962|issn=0006-4246}}</ref> This argument from McClendon received support from [[Edna Lewis Thomas|Edna Thomas]], Harry Edwards,<!--African-American, according to one source--> [[Carlton Moss]], Abraham Hale Jr., Augusta Smith and [[Dick Campbell (producer)|Dick Campbell]].<ref name=":1" />

This crusade for equality eventually became a sticking point for the [[Dies Committee]], which pulled funding for the Federal Theater Project, arguing that "racial equality forms a vital part of the Communist dictatorship and practices".<ref name="Ross"/>

[[File:WPA Federal Theater Project in New York-Negro Theatre Unit-"Macbeth" - NARA - 195696.tif|thumb|Federal Theater Project in New York-Negro Theatre Unit -"Macbeth"]]  

[[File:Macbeth-04-Carter.jpg|thumb|[[Jack Carter (stage actor)|Jack Carter]] as Macbeth in the Federal Theatre Project production of ''[[Voodoo Macbeth|Macbeth]]'' at the Lafayette Theatre, Harlem]]
[[File:Macbeth-24-Thomas.jpg|thumb|Photograph of Edna Thomas as Lady Macbeth in the Federal Theatre Project production of ''[[Voodoo Macbeth|Macbeth]]'' at the Lafayette Theatre]]
[[File:Macbeth-02-Macduff-Children.jpg|thumb|Wanda Macy and Bertram Holmes as Macduff's daughter and son in the Federal Theatre Project production of ''[[Voodoo Macbeth|Macbeth]]'' at the Lafayette Theatre, Harlem]]
[[File:Macbeth-12-Bodyguard.jpg|thumb|Macbeth's bodyguard in the Federal Theatre Project production of ''[[Voodoo Macbeth|Macbeth]]'' at the Lafayette Theatre, Harlem]]
[[File:Macbeth-30-Nurse-Children.jpg|thumb|Virginia Girvin as the Nurse with Wanda Macy and Bertram Holmes as Macduff's daughter and son in the Federal Theatre Project production of ''[[Voodoo Macbeth|Macbeth]]'' at the Lafayette Theatre, Harlem]]
[[File:WPA Federal Theater Project in New York-Negro Theatre Unit-"Macbeth" - NARA - 195697.tif|thumb|Federal Theater Project in New York-Negro Theatre Unit-"Macbeth"]]

===New drama productions===
Numbers following the city of origin indicate the number of additional cities where the play was presented.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Title
! Author
! City
! Dates
|-
| ''Accident Policy''
| Arthur Akers
| Birmingham
| July 31–August 3, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|392}}
|-
| ''Advent and Nativity of Christ''
| adapted by Hedley Gordon Graham
| New York
| December 20–24, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|392}}
|-
| ''Bassa Moona (The Land I Love)''
| Momodu Johnson, Norman Coker
| New York
| December 8, 1936 – March 20, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|392}}
|-
| ''[[Big White Fog]]''
| [[Theodore Ward]]
| Chicago
| April 7–May 30, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|392}}
|-
| ''Black Empire''
| Christine Ames, Clarke Painter
| Los Angeles + 1
| March 16–July 19, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|392}}
|-
| ''The Case of Philip Lawrence''
| George MacEntree
| New York
| June 8–July 31, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|392}}
|-
| ''Conjur' Man Dies''
| [[Rudolph Fisher]], adapted by [[Arna Bontemps]] and [[Countee Cullen]]<ref name="A to Z"/>{{Rp|179}}
| New York + 1
| March 11–July 4, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|392}}
|-
| ''Did Adam Sin?''
| Lew Payton
| Chicago
| April 30–May 14, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|392}}
|-
| ''An Evening with Dunbar''
| [[Paul Laurence Dunbar]], adapted by project staff
| Seattle
| October 31–December 17, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|392}}
|-
| ''Great Day''
| M. Wood
| Birmingham
| October 7, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''Haiti''
| [[William DuBois (writer)|William DuBois]]
| New York + 1
| March 2–November 5, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''Heaven Bound''
| Nellie Lindley Davis, adapted by Julian Harris
| Atlanta
| October 10, 1937 – January 8, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''Home in Glory''
| Clyde Limbaugh
| Birmingham
| April 16–May 15, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''[[It Can't Happen Here]]''
| [[Sinclair Lewis]], [[John C. Moffitt]]
| Seattle + 20
| October 27–November 6, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''Jericho''
| H. L. Fishel
| Philadelphia + 3
| October 16, 1937 – April 4, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''John Henry''
| Frank Wells
| Los Angeles
| September 30–October 18, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''[[Lysistrata]]''
| [[Aristophanes]], adapted by Theodore Browne
| Seattle
| September 17, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''[[Voodoo Macbeth|Macbeth]]''
| [[William Shakespeare]], adapted by [[Orson Welles]]
| New York + 8
| April 14–October 17, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''The Natural Man''
| Theodore Browne
| Seattle
| January 28–February 20, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''[[The Swing Mikado]]''
| adapted from [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]
| Chicago + 3
| September 25, 1938 – February 25, 1939<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''Return to Death''
| P. Washington Porter
| Holyoke, Mass.
| August 17–20, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''The Reverend Takes His Text''
| Ralf Coleman
| Roxbury, Mass. + 3
| December 12, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''Romey and Julie''
| Robert Dunmore, Ruth Chorpenning
| Chicago
| April 1–25, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''Sweet Land''
| Conrad Seiler
| New York
| January 19–February 27, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]''
| William Shakespeare, adapted by project staff
| Seattle
| June 19–24, 1939<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''The Trial of Dr. Beck''
| [[Hughes Allison]]
| New Jersey Spots + 2
| June 3–12, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''Trilogy in Black''
| Ward Courtney
| Hartford
| June 18, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''Turpentine''
| [[J. Augustus Smith]], Peter Morell
| New York
| June 26–September 5, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''Unto Such Glory''
| [[Paul Green (playwright)|Paul Green]]
| New York
| May 6–July 10, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|-
| ''Walk Together Chillun''
| [[Frank H. Wilson]]
| New York
| February 4–March 7, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|393}}
|}

===Standard drama productions===
Numbers following the city of origin indicate the number of additional cities where the play was presented.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Title
! Author
! City
! Dates
|-
| ''[[Androcles and the Lion (play)|Androcles and the Lion]]''
| [[George Bernard Shaw]]
| Seattle + 2
| November 1–6, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''Bloodstream''
| Frederick Schlick
| Boston
| March 17–27, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''Bound East for Cardiff''
| [[Eugene O'Neill]]
| New York
| October 29, 1937 – January 15, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''Brother Mose''
| [[Frank H. Wilson]]
| New York + 20
| July 25, 1934 – December 21, 1935<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''Cinda''
| H. J. Bates
| Boston + 4
| January 21–24, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''[[The Emperor Jones]]''
| Eugene O'Neill
| Hartford + 1
| October 21–23, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''The Field God''
| Paul Green
| Hartford
| February 17–19, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''Genesis''
| H. J. Bates, Charles Flato
| Hyde Park, Mass. + 2
| February 26, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''Hymn to the Rising Sun''
| Paul Green
| New York
| May 6–July 10, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''[[In Abraham's Bosom]]''
| Paul Green
| Seattle + 1
| April 21–May 22, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''In the Valley''
| Paul Green
| Hartford
| September 7–10, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''In the Zone''
| Eugene O'Neill
| New York
| October 29, 1937 – January 15, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''Just Ten Days''
| J. Aubrey Smith
| New York
| August 10–September 10, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''The Long Voyage Home''
| Eugene O'Neill
| New York
| October 29, 1937 – January 15, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''Mississippi Rainbow (Brain Sweat)''
| John Charles Brownell
| Cleveland + 7
| April 18–May 10, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''The Moon of the Caribbees''
| Eugene O'Neill
| New York
| October 29, 1937 – January 15, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''Noah''
| [[André Obey]]
| Seattle + 4
| April 28–July 8, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''[[Porgy (play)|Porgy]]''
| [[DuBose Heyward]], [[Dorothy Heyward]]
| Hartford
| March 17–May 14, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''Roll, Sweet Chariot''
| Paul Green
| New Orleans
| June 16–18, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''Run, Little Chillun''
| [[Hall Johnson]]
| Los Angeles + 2
| July 22, 1938 – June 10, 1939<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|428}}
|-
| ''The Sabine Women''
| [[Leonid Andreyev]]
| Hartford
| December 15–17, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|429}}
|-
| ''The Show-Off''
| [[George Kelly (playwright)|George Kelly]]
| Hartford
| March 5–July 3, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|429}}
|-
| ''Stevedore''
| Paul Peters, George Sklar
| Seattle
| March 25–May 9, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|429}}
|-
| ''Swamp Mud''
| Harold Courlander
| Birmingham
| July 11, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|429}}
|-
| ''[[Pictures from the Insects' Life|The World We Live In]]''
| [[Josef Čapek]], [[Karel Čapek]]
| Hartford
| January 13–15, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|429}}
|}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160px">
File:Voodoo-Macbeth-Poster.jpg
File:Turpentine-poster-1936.jpg
File:Noah, a human comedy, WPA poster, 1936.jpg
File:Haiti-Poster-Lafayette.jpg
File:Emperor Jones 1937.jpg
File:Case-of-Philip-Lawrence-Poster.jpg
File:Big White Fog.jpg
File:Androcles-Poster-1938.jpg
</gallery>

==Dance drama==
===New productions===
Numbers following the city of origin indicate the number of additional cities where the play was presented.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Title
! Author
! City
! Dates
|-
| ''Adelante''
| [[Helen Tamiris]]
| New York
| April 20–May 6, 1939<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''All the Weary People''
| Project staff
| Portland, Ore.
| September 28, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''An American Exodus''
| [[Myra Kinch]]
| Los Angeles + 1
| July 27, 1937 – January 4, 1939<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Ballet Fedre''
| Berta Ochsner, Grace and Kurt Graff, [[Katherine Dunham]]
| Chicago
| January 27–February 19, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Bonneville Dam''
| Project staff
| [[Timberline Lodge]], Ore.
| September 29, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''[[Candide]]''
| [[Charles Weidman]]
| New York
| June 19–30, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''The Eternal Prodigal''
| Gluck-Sandor
| New York
| December 2, 1936 – January 2, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Fantasy 1939 (Immediate Comment)''
| Berta Ochsner, David Campbell
| New York
| June 26–27, 1939<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Federal Ballet''
| [[Ruth Page (ballerina)|Ruth Page]], Kurt Graff
| Chicago + 5
| June 19–July 30, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Federal Ballet (Guns and Castanets)''
| Ruth Page, Bentley Stone
| Chicago + 1
| March 1–25, 1939<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Folk Dances of All Nations''
| Lilly Mehlman
| New York
| December 27, 1937 – April 11, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''How Long Brethren''
| Helen Tamiris
| New York + 1
| May 6, 1937 – January 15, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Invitation to the Dance''
| Josef Castle
| Tampa
| July 18–22, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Little Mermaid''
| [[Roger Pryor Dodge]]
| New York
| December 27, 1937 – April 11, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''El Maestro de Ballet''
| Senia Solomonoff
| Tampa
| July 18–22, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Modern Dance Group''
| Project staff
| Philadelphia
| March 29, 1939<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Mother Goose on Parade''
| [[Nadia Chilkovsky Nahumck|Nadia Chilkovsky]]
| New York
| December 27, 1937 – April 11, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Music in Fairyland''
| Myra Kinch
| Los Angeles
| December 25, 1937 – January 1, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Prelude to Swing''
| Melvina Fried
| Philadelphia
| June 12–30, 1939<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Salut au Monde''
| Helen Tamiris
| New York
| July 23–August 5, 1936–<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|-
| ''Texas Flavor''
| B. Collie
| Dallas
| November 8–30, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|387}}
|-
| ''Trojan Incident''
| Euripides, adapted by Philip H. Davis
| New York
| April 21–May 21, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|387}}
|-
| ''With My Red Fires, To the Dance, The Race of Life''
| [[Doris Humphrey]]
| New York
| January 30–February 4, 1939<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|387}}
|-
| ''Young Tramps''
| Don Oscar Becque
| New York
| August 6–8, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|387}}
|}

==Foreign-language drama==
These plays were given their first professional production in the United States by the Federal Theatre Project. Titles are shown as they appeared on event programs. Numbers following the city of origin indicate the number of additional cities where the play was presented.

===New productions===

====German====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Title
! Author
! City
! Dates
|-
| ''Die Apostel''
| Rudolph Wittenberg
| New York
| April 15–20, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}
|-
| ''Doktor Wespe''
| [[Roderich Benedix]]
| New York
| September 4–18, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}
|-
| ''Einmal Mensch''
| [[Fritz Peter Buch]]
| New York
| December 3, 1936 – February 18, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}
|-
| ''Seemanns-Ballade''
| [[Joachim Ringelnatz]]
| New York
| October 1–8, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|386}}
|}

====Spanish====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Title
! Author
! City
! Dates
|-
| ''[[It Can't Happen Here|Esto No Pasará Aqui]]''
| [[Sinclair Lewis]], John C. Moffitt
| Tampa
| October 27–November 1, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}
|}

====Yiddish====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Title
! Author
! City
! Dates
|-
| ''[[Awake and Sing!|Awake and Sing]]''
| [[Clifford Odets]], adapted by Chaver Paver
| New York + 1
| December 22, 1938 – April 9, 1939<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}
|-
| ''Awake and Sing''
| Clifford Odets, adapted by Sigmund Largman
| Los Angeles
| April 1, 1937 – April 11, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}
|-
| ''It Can't Happen Here''
| Sinclair Lewis, John C. Moffitt
| Los Angeles<br>New York<br>Paterson, N. J.
| October 27–November 3, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}<br>October 27, 1936 – May 1, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}<br>April 18–19, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}
|-
| ''Monesh''
| [[I. L. Peretz]], adapted by Jonah Spivak
| Chicago
| September 7–November 14, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}
|-
| ''Professor Mamlock''
| [[Friedrich Wolf (writer)|Friedrich Wolf]]
| Peabody, Mass. + 3
| February 10, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}
|-
| ''The Tailor Becomes a Storekeeper''
| [[David Pinski]]
| Chicago + 1
| February 25–April 9, 1938<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}
|-
| ''Uptown and Downtown''
| [[Boris Thomashefsky]] and Cornblatt
| New York
| January 1, 1935 – June 17, 1936<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}
|-
| ''We Live and Laugh''
| Project staff
| New York
| June 9, 1936 – March 5, 1937<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|389}}
|}

==Radio==
[[File:Flanagan-Federal-Theatre-Radio.jpg|thumb|[[Hallie Flanagan]] on [[CBS Radio]] for the Federal Theatre of the Air (1936)]]
The Federal Theatre of the Air began weekly broadcasts March 15, 1936. For three years the radio division of the Federal Theatre Project presented an average of 3,000 programs annually on commercial stations and the NBC, Mutual and CBS networks. The major programs originated in New York; radio divisions were also created in 11 states.<ref name="Arena">{{cite book |last=Flanagan |first=Hallie  |author-link=Hallie Flanagan |date=1965 |title=Arena: The History of the Federal Theatre |location=New York |publisher=Benjamin Blom, reprint edition [1940] |oclc=855945294}}</ref>{{Rp|267–268, 397}}
Series included ''Professional Parade'', hosted by [[Fred Niblo]]; ''Experiments in Symphonic Drama'', original stories written for classical music; ''Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera'', the complete works performed by Federal Theatre actors and recordings by [[D'Oyly Carte Opera Company|D'Oyly Carte]]; ''Ibsen's Plays'', performances of 12 major plays; ''Repertory Theatre of the Air'', presenting literary classics; ''Contemporary Theatre'', presenting plays by modern authors; and the interview program, ''Exploring the Arts and Sciences''.<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|268}}

The radio division presented a wide range of programs on health and safety, art, music and history. The American Legion sponsored [[James Truslow Adams]]'s ''Epic of America''. The children's program, ''Once Upon a Time'', and [[Paul de Kruif]]'s ''Men Against Death'' were both honored by the National Committee for Education by Radio. In March 1939, at the invitation of the BBC, Flanagan broadcast the story of the Federal Theatre Project to Britain. Asked to expand the program to encompass the entire WPA, the radio division produced ''No Help Wanted'', a dramatization by [[William N. Robson]] with music by [[Leith Stevens]]. ''[[The Times]]'' called it "the best broadcast ever sent us from the Americas".<ref name="Arena"/>{{Rp|268–269}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://radiogoldin.library.umkc.edu/Home/RadioGoldin_Records?searchString=No%20Help%20Wanted&type=Programs |title=No Help Wanted |publisher=RadioGOLDINdex |access-date=2015-03-31 |archive-date=2015-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402124602/http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=No%20Help%20Wanted |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Federal Dance Project==
The Federal Dance Project (FDP) was a short-lived entity that was ultimately absorbed into the Federal Theater Project.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=DeNoon |first=Christopher |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16558529 |title=Posters of the WPA |date=1987 |publisher=Wheatley Press, in association with the University of Washington Press, Seattle |others=Francis V. O'Connor |isbn=0-295-96543-6 |location=Los Angeles |page=133 |oclc=16558529}}</ref> Dancer [[Helen Tamiris]] was the central figure of the FDP, which existed as an independent entity from January 1936 until October 1937.<ref name=":0" />

== Funding pulled by Congress==
[[File:370403-Dies-Martin.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Rep. Martin Dies, Chairman of the House Committee of Un-American Activities, February 17, 1940]]
In May 1938, [[Martin Dies Jr.|Martin Dies Jr]]., director of [[House Un-American Activities Committee|The House Committee on Un-American Activities]] specifically targeted the WPA's Federal Theatre Project. Assailing Flanagan's professional character and political affiliations, the committee heard testimony from former Federal Theatre Project members who were unhappy with their tenure with the project. Flanagan testified that the FTP was pro-American insofar as the work celebrated the constitutional freedoms of speech and expression to address the relevant and pressing concerns of its citizens.

Citing the Federal Theatre's call for racial equality, impending war, and further perpetuating the rumor that the FTP was a front for radical and communist activities, Congress ended federal funding as of June 30, 1939, immediately putting 8,000 people out of work across the country. Although the overall financial cost of the FTP was minuscule in the grand scheme of the WPA's budget, Congress determined that the average American did not consider theater a viable recipient of their tax dollars. Following the decision, Flanagan's stepdaughter, Joanne Bentley quoted an unnamed Congressmen saying "Culture! What the Hell—Let 'em have a pick and shovel!"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historylink.org/File/3978|title=Federal Theatre Project|website=historylink.org|access-date=2019-05-08}}</ref>  This decision came as ''The Cradle Will Rock'' was set to premiere on Broadway, scuttling the pro-union musical.

Members of Congress criticized a total of 81 of the Federal Theatre Project's 830 major titles for their content in public statements, committee hearings, on the floor of the Senate or House, or in testimony before Congressional committees. Only 29 were original productions of the Federal Theatre Project. The others included 32 revivals or stock productions; seven plays that were initiated by community groups; five that were never produced by the project; two works of Americana; two classics; one children's play; one Italian translation; and one Yiddish play.<ref name="Arena" />{{Rp|432–433}}

The Living Newspapers productions that drew criticism were ''Injunction Granted'', a history of American labor relations; ''[[One-Third of a Nation]]'', about housing conditions in New York; ''Power'',<ref name="Arena" />{{Rp|433}} about energy from the consumer's point of view;<ref name="Arena" />{{Rp|184–185}} and ''Triple A Plowed Under'', on farming problems in America.<ref name="Arena" />{{Rp|433}} Another that was criticized, on the history of medicine, was not completed.<ref name="Arena" />{{Rp|434}}

Dramas criticized by Congress were ''American Holiday'', about a small-town murder trial; ''Around the Corner'', a Depression-era comedy; ''Chalk Dust'', about an urban high school; ''Class of '29'', the Depression years as seen through young college graduates; ''Created Equal'', a review of American life since colonial times; ''[[It Can't Happen Here]]'', [[Sinclair Lewis]]'s parable of democracy and dictatorship; ''No More Peace'', [[Ernst Toller]]'s satire on dictatorships; ''Professor Mamlock'', about Nazi persecution of Jews; ''Prologue to Glory'', about the early life of Abraham Lincoln; ''The Sun and I'', about [[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph]] in Egypt; and ''Woman of Destiny'', about a female President who works for peace.<ref name="Arena" />{{Rp|433}}

[[File:"Help your-self" LCCN98516815.jpg|thumb|''Help Your-Self'', La Jolla Hi-School Auditorium, 1937, [[Hans Adler (poet)|Paul Vulpius]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vulpius |first1=Paul |author1-link=Hans Adler (poet) |title=Help yourself |url=https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/3789?show=full |date=20 December 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Guide to the Federal Theatre Project collection, 1885-1986 |url=https://scrc.gmu.edu/finding_aids/ftp.html |website=Federal Theatre Project collection |publisher=scrc.gmu.edu |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref>]]

Negro Theatre Unit productions that drew criticism were ''The Case of Philip Lawrence'', a portrait of life in Harlem; ''Did Adam Sin?'', a review of black folklore with music; and ''Haiti'', a play about [[Toussaint Louverture]].<ref name="Arena" />{{Rp|433}}

Also criticized for their content were the dance dramas ''Candide'', from Voltaire; ''How Long Brethren'', featuring songs by future [[Guggenheim Fellowship]] recipient [[Lawrence Gellert]]; and ''Trojan Incident'', a translation of Euripides with a prologue from Homer.<ref name="Arena" />{{Rp|433}}

''Help Yourself'',<ref>{{cite web |title="Help your-self" A 3 act comedy. |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/works-progress-administration-posters/?fa=subject:comedies%7Csubject:banking |website=Posters: WPA Posters, Online, Comedies, Banking |publisher=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> a satire on high-pressure business tactics, was among the comedies criticized by Congress. Others were ''Machine Age'', about mass production; ''On the Rocks'' by [[George Bernard Shaw]]; and ''The Tailor Becomes a Storekeeper''.<ref name="Arena" />{{Rp|433}}

Children's plays singled out were ''Mother Goose Goes to Town'', and ''[[Revolt of the Beavers]]'', which the ''[[New York Journal-American|New York American]]'' called a "pleasing fantasy for children".<ref name="Arena" />{{Rp|433}}

The musical ''Sing for Your Supper'' also met with Congressional criticism, although its patriotic finale, "[[Ballad for Americans]]", was chosen as the theme song of the 1940 Republican National Convention.<ref name="Arena" />{{Rp|433}}

==Cultural references==
A fictionalized view of the Federal Theatre Project is presented in the 1999 film ''[[Cradle Will Rock]]'', in which [[Cherry Jones]] portrays Hallie Flanagan.<ref>{{cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet  |author-link=Janet Maslin |date=December 8, 1999 |title=Cradle Will Rock (1999): Panoramic Passions on a playbill from the 1930s|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE2DB103AF93BA35751C1A96F958260 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2015-03-02 }}</ref>

==References==
{{More footnotes|date=September 2022}}
===Citations===
{{reflist|2}}

=== Cited works ===
* Goldstein, Malcolm. ''The Political Stage: American Drama and Theater of the Great Depression''. Oxford University Press, 1974.
* Jefferson, Miles M. "The Negro on Broadway, 1947-1948". ''Phylon'' (1940–1956), vol. 9, no. 2, 1948, p.&nbsp;99., doi:10.2307/272176.
* Norflett, Linda Kerr. “Rosetta LeNoire: The Lady and Her Theatre". ''Black American Literature Forum'', vol. 17, no. 2, 1983, p.&nbsp;69., doi:10.2307/2904582.
* Pool, Rosey E. "The Negro Actor in Europe". ''Phylon'' (1940–1956), vol. 14, no. 3, 1 Sept. 1953, pp.&nbsp;258–267. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/271466?refreqid=search-gateway:0a4e4b9a53d893b23f2ee26ce846367f.
* Roses, Lorraine Elena. ''Black Bostonians and the Politics of Culture, 1920-1940''. University of Massachusetts Press, 2017.
* Shandell, Jonathan. ''The American Negro Theatre and the Long Civil Rights Era''. University of Iowa Press, 2018.
* {{cite journal |last1=Sheridan |first1=Frank |last2=Leslie |first2=Linda |title=A User's Guide to the Federal Theater Project |journal=OAH Magazine of History |date=1997 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=50–52 |doi=10.1093/maghis/11.2.50 |jstor=25163137 |issn=0882-228X}}

==Further reading==
* Batiste, Stephanie Leigh. ''Darkening Mirrors: Imperial Representation in Depression-Era African American Performance'' (Duke University Press; 2012) 352 pages; Explores African-Americans' participation on stage and screen; especially FTP's "voodoo" Macbeth.
* Bentley, Joanne. ''Hallie Flanagan: A Life in the American Theatre'' (1988).
* Flanagan, Hallie. ''Arena: The Story of the Federal Theatre'' (1940) [https://archive.org/details/arena00flanrich online 1985 edition : Free Borrowing] : [[Internet Archive]]
* Frost, Leslie. "'Don’t Be Mean' and Other Lessons from Children’s Plays of the Federal Theatre Project." ''Ludics: Play as Humanistic Inquiry'' ed. by Vassiliki Rapti and Eric Gordon; (Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, 2021) pp. 403-426.
* Frost, Leslie Elaine, ''Dreaming America: Popular Front Ideals and Aesthetics in Children’s Plays of the Federal Theatre Project'' (Ohio State University Press, 2013).
* {{cite journal |last1=Gagliardi |first1=Paul |title=The Illusion of Work: The Con Artist Plays of the Federal Theatre Project |journal=The Journal of American Drama and Theatre |date=Fall 2017 |volume=30 |issue=1 |url=https://jadtjournal.org/2017/12/11/the-illusion-of-work-the-con-artist-plays-of-the-federal-theatre-project/ |publisher=Martin E. Segal Theatre Center |issn=2376-4236}} [https://jadtjournal.org/2017/12/11/the-illusion-of-work-the-con-artist-plays-of-the-federal-theatre-project/?format=pdf PDF]
* Hurt, Melissa, “Oppressed, Stereotyped, and Silenced: Atlanta’s Black History with the Federal Theatre Project.” in ''Constructions of Race in Southern Theatre: From Federalism to the Federal Theatre Project'' edited by Noreen Barnes McLain. (University of Alabama Press, 2003).
* {{cite book |last1=Karoula |first1=Rania |title=The federal threatre Project, 1935-1939 : engagement and experimentation |date=2020 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=9781474445450 |oclc=1272066373}}
* Mathews, Jane DeHart. ''Federal Theatre, 1935-1939: Plays, Relief, and Politics'' (Princeton UP 1967) {{JSTOR|j.ctt13x1bqq}}
* Moore, Cecelia. ''The Federal Theatre Project in the American South: The Carolina Playmakers and the Quest for American Drama'' (Lexington Books, 2017).
* Newton, Christopher. "In Order to Obtain the Desired Effect": Italian Language Theater Sponsored by the Federal Theatre Project in Boston, 1935–39," ''[[Italian Americana]],'' (Sep 1994) 12#2 pp 187–200.
* O'Connor, John, and Lorraine Brown, eds. ''Free, Adult, Uncensored: The Living History of the Federal Theatre Project'' (1978).
* O'Connor, John. "The Drama of Farming: The Federal Theatre Living Newspapers on Agriculture." ''Prospects'' 15 (1990): 325-358.
* {{cite journal |last1=Osborne |first1=Elizabeth |title=Storytelling, Chiggers, and the Bible Belt: The Georgia Experiment as the Public Face of the Federal Theatre Project |journal=Theatre History Studies |date=2011 |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=9–26 |doi=10.1353/ths.2011.0016 |s2cid=191586120 |id={{Project MUSE|469278}} }}
* {{cite book |last1=Osborne |first1=Elizabeth A. |title=Staging the people : community and identity in the Federal Theatre Project |date=2011 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=9780230113312 |edition=First |oclc=741931369}}
* {{cite book |last1=Quinn |first1=Susan |title=Furious Improvisation: How the WPA and a Cast of Thousands Made High Art Out of Desperate Times |date=2008 |publisher=Walker and Company |location=New York |isbn=9780802779717 |oclc=955212213}} [https://www.amazon.com/Furious-Improvisation-Thousands-Desperate-Times/dp/0802716989/ excerpt @ amazon]
* Schwartz, Bonnie Nelson. ''Voices from the Federal Theatre''. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2003); includes interviews with such Federal Theatre actors, playwrights, directors, designers, producers, and dancers as [[Arthur Miller]], [[Jules Dassin]], [[Katherine Dunham]], [[Rosetta LeNoire]], [[John Houseman]] etc; primary sources.
* Shapiro, James. ''The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Making of a Culture War'' (Penguin Press, 2024).
* White, Leslie. "Eugene O'Neill and the Federal Theatre Project." ''Resources for American Literary Study'' 17.1 (1990): 63-85 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/26366697 online].
* Witham, Barry B. ''The Federal Theatre Project: A Case Study'' (2004). [https://www.amazon.com/Federal-Theatre-Project-Cambridge-American/dp/0521100127/ excerpt @ amazon]

==External links==
{{Archival records|title=Federal Theatre Project collection, 1932-1943|location= [[Music Division, Library of Congress]]|description_URL=https://lccn.loc.gov/2003682046}}
{{Commons category|Federal Theatre Project}}
{{Portal|Theatre}}
* [[Library of Congress]]
** [https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/federal-theatre-project/ Coast to Coast: The Federal Theatre Project, 1935–1939]
** [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fedtp/fthome.html American Memory—The New Deal Stage: Selections from the Federal Theatre Project, 1935–1939]
* Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]
** [http://www.nypl.org/archives/4354 Hallie Flanagan papers, 1923–1963]
** [http://catalog.nypl.org/record=b19939377~S1 Federal Theatre Project designs, 1935–1939]
** [http://archives.nypl.org/the/21460 Federal Theatre Project lists of plays, 1938]
** [http://archives.nypl.org/the/21674 WPA Radio Scripts, 1936–1940]
* [https://scrc.gmu.edu/finding_aids/ftp.html Federal Theatre Project Collection] at [[George Mason University]]
*[http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=ascead&cc=ascead&rgn=main&view=text&didno=US-PPiU-ctc197902 Federal Theatre Project Collection, 1936–1939, CTC.1979.02, Curtis Theatre Collection], Special Collections Department, [[University of Pittsburgh]]
* [http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/federal-theatre-project-negro-units BlackPast.org: Federal Theatre Project (Negro Units)] 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150403002555/http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2003/julyaugust/feature/hour-upon-the-stage "An Hour Upon the Stage: The Brief Life of Federal Theatre".]  ''Humanities: The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities'', July/August 2003
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060827223102/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA04/mccain/audiohist/homepage.htm American Studies at the University of Virginia: ''Triple A Plowed Under''] — ''full text plus recreation-for-radio production of the Federal Theater Project drama''. 
* [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/F/FE004.html Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture — Federal Theater Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719050006/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/F/FE004.html |date=2010-07-19 }}
*[http://depts.washington.edu/depress/theater_arts_ftp.shtml "Federal Theater Project in Washington State"], by Sarah Guthu — ''from the [[Great Depression in Washington State Project]]''

{{Federal One}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Federal Theatre Project| ]]
[[Category:National theatres]]
[[Category:New Deal projects of the arts]]
[[Category:Theatre in the United States]]
[[Category:Works Progress Administration]]
[[Category:New Deal agencies]]
[[Category:1935 establishments in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 1935]]
[[Category:Arts organizations established in 1935]]
[[Category:Cultural history of the United States]]
[[Category:1939 disestablishments in Washington, D.C.]]