The Federal Theater Project was part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal plan to provide government funds for plays and entertainment during the Great Depression. It created jobs for struggling artists and provided low-cost entertainment and education. The program was led by Hallie Flanagan, who aimed to use theater as a medium for cultural discussion. The FTP created several “Negro Units” to promote African-American theater and frequently produced controversial material. The program ended after four years, but launched the careers of famous actors such as Orson Welles, John Houseman, and Elia Kazan. The FTP helped shape modern American theater.
The Federal Theater Project was an extension of the Works Projects Administration (WPA) under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal plan. During the American Depression of the 1930s, the Federal Theater Project provided government funds to produce plays and other entertainment. Not only has FTP provided jobs for thousands of struggling artists, it has also provided low-cost entertainment and education, enabling families suffering the effects of depression to still experience culture and art.
To stimulate the US economy in the wake of the Depression, President Roosevelt initiated a series of large-scale projects to boost employment across the country. The Federal Theater Project was placed under the control of Hallie Flanagan, a Vassar professor, playwright and director. Flanagan had a passion for socially relevant material and began building the program to attract new audiences and use theater as a medium for cultural discussion. He touted the idea of “Living Newspaper” stage shows that would dramatize local, national, and global issues affecting individual Americans in their time period.
FTP has been revolutionary in a variety of ways, many of which have not been agreed with by the US Congress. Although the companies created were not fully integrated, the FTP created several “Negro Units” to promote African-American theater. The FTP also frequently created controversial material, including a 1936 play about Haile Selassie entitled Ethiopia, which was ripped from the stage when Congress decreed that no current leader could be portrayed in federally funded productions. As time went on, Congress became increasingly upset by the FTP, eventually calling Hallie Flanagan to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, just before shutting down the Federal Theater Project for good.
Probably the FTP’s most legendary moment was the illicit production of a new Marc Blitzstein musical called Cradle Will Rock. The play, which took a pro-union stance and was clearly anti-establishment, was banned from being performed on the federal stage. Undaunted, Blitzstein led the thronging audience into an empty theater a few blocks away, and began to tell the story of the show and sing along to the music. The actors, who were all in the theater at the time, stood up in the audience and delivered the entire play from the floor, never approaching the forbidden stage. Many theater experts consider this one of the most important moments in all of theater history, and a powerful protest against attempted censorship.
The Federal Theater Project ended after just four years, but it launched the careers of many famous stage actors. Orson Welles, John Houseman, and Elia Kazan all got their major careers started through FTP. The experimental program affirmed that American theater is a voice for change and a cultural beacon in one of the darkest periods in US history. While the US government has never seen fit to fully fund theater companies since the 1930s, American theater owes a large debt to the creators of the Federal Theater Project, which has undoubtedly helped shape the modern stage.
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