Blog #21

What was the Federal Theater Project? Why was it created?

The Federal Theater Project (FTP) was a New Deal project to fund theater and other live artistic performances in the United States during the Great Depression. It was one of five Federal One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The FTP's primary goal was employment of out-of-work artists, writers, and directors, with the secondary aim of entertaining poor families and creating relevant art.

Explain two reasons why the Federal Theater Project was important in the history of the United States.

The Federal Theater Project was one of the first programs that the government funded which employed many citizens during the Great Depression and although the government funded the program it also was the one that canceled it because the plays that were being produced talked about the government in a negative way. The Federal Theatre Project started using government officials face's in their plays which did not appeal to the government at all. The Federal Theatre Project produced plays that were related to issues that were going on at the time and showed how the government dealt with the problems.

Explain two reasons why the Federal Theater Project was controversial in American society.

One of the reasons The Federal Theater Project was controversial because the plays that were performed went against the government. The person who was put in charge of this program was Harry Hopkins who promised that Federal Theater Project would be "free, adult, and uncensored." This surely grabbed the attention of others and thought it would be a good idea however, that wasn't so. "The Living Newspaper" were plays that were formed by previous newspapers that talked about issues that were going on. Most of the newspapers that were gathered were those that included the government. When the newspapers were gathered, the writers created them into a play and performed them in front of a large audience. In these plays the government was brought out in a negative way. The issues that were being performed were those that the government would not like to be shown or talked about. The plays went against the government and talked about the government’s actions. Even though these plays went against what the government wanted, it grabbed a lot of attention because of what it was showing. The plays emphasized the government’s faults and brought out individual congress people as well. Because of this, the Federal Theater Project faced problems which led to its cancellation.

Another reason why it was so controversial was because it spend so much money. It was the most expensive of the Federal One projects. This was very controversial because all this money was being spent on plays and they were during a Depression.

Post three images from or of the Federal Theater Project. For each image, post a brief caption describing what you are showing.

This was the production of Macbeth which became a very popular performance where colored people were also allowed to perform. The Federal Theater project formed a colored unit whose purpose was “to develop a permanent acting company trained in the arts and crafts of the theatre that also reflected the special gifts, talents, and attributes of African Americans” stated on the following website

http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/american-negro-theatre

This is a picture of people enterning to watch one of the plays of the federala theater project which was One-Third of a Nation written by Arther Arent created in 1938 and a play of the Living Newspaper.

This is an image of when Eleanor Roosevelt attended on of the Federal Theater Projects production in 1937.