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THE FEDERAL THEATRE PROJECT: REGION IV--A STRUCTURAL AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF HOW IT FUNCTIONED AND WHAT IT ACCOMPLISHED
Abstract
During the "Great Depression" the United States government operated a nationwide theatre program under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration. The Federal Theatre Project was designed to utilize and enhance the skills of unemployed professional theatre workers rather than have them participate in regular work projects. The initial scope of the project was quite wide; thirty-one states and the District of Columbia had adequate numbers of unemployed to justify the establishment of a state unit in each. Over the four years of its existence (1935-1939), however, the Federal Theatre became more and more centralized in the major metropolitan areas and was eventually terminated when the Congress refused to fund it. This study deals with Region IV of the Federal Theatre Project, which encompassed the states of Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Kansas. Each state that had a theatre unit is dealt with in chronological order to show the unit's development, its administrative functioning, the productions presented as well as public reaction to these, and background on major personalities within each unit. In addition, the regional administration and its interfacing with the state units is examined.
Subject Area
Theater
Recommended Citation
KOCH, JOHN CHARLES, "THE FEDERAL THEATRE PROJECT: REGION IV--A STRUCTURAL AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF HOW IT FUNCTIONED AND WHAT IT ACCOMPLISHED" (1981). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8118166.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8118166