Arena; the history of the Federal Theatre

Bibliography: p. 439-447.

Blueprints for a Black federal theatre, 1935-1939

Constructions of race in Southern theatre: from Federalism to the Federal Theatre Project

Papers from a symposium held in April 2002, at Elon University in North Carolina.

Contents: The quest for self in others: race, authenticity, and "folk plays" / Dorothy Chansky -- What's a poor girl to do? Poverty, whiteness, and femininity on the Carolina playmakers' stage / Jessica Hester -- The "benevolent" institution of slavery: Confederate ideology in James D. McCabe's The guerillas / Heather McMahon -- Wenches, old darkies, and children on the plantation: the performance of gender and race on the Northern minstrel stage / Heather May -- Excerpts from An evening with Ira Aldridge / Eddie Bradley -- Fighting one "ism" with another: the Communist Party fights racism in the South: Scottsboro dramatizations and Stevedore / Anne Fletcher -- The effect of race, gender, and media on the last legal public execution in the United States / Wesley A. Bartlett -- Oppressed, stereotyped, and silenced: Atlanta's black history with the Federal Theatre Project / Melissa Hurt -- Subverting the system: the Atlanta University summer theatre / Freda Scott Giles -- "Rufflin' and rumblin'" in the dark: audience dynamics in the "Buzzard roost" of the segregated South / John Poole -- Symposium response / Marvin Sims.

Federal Theater, File 891, and the Mercury Theater

Summary: This film appraises the impact of the drama groups that flourished during the Depression and their lasting contributions to theater. Among the topics discussed are the American method stye of acting, as pioneered at the Group Theatre; the Federal Theater, the Classical Theatre (Project 891), and the Mercury Theater, incubators for some of the most innovative and controversial works ever seen on the American stage; and the theatrical careers of Orson Welles and John Houseman. (30 min.)

Federal Theatre Project : a case study

Series: Cambridge studies in American theatre and drama, no. 20. Includes bibliographical references (p. 176-184) and index.

New Deal stage: selections from the Federal Theatre Project, 1935-1939

This online presentation includes over 13,000 images of items selected from the Federal Theatre Project Collection at the Library of Congress. Featured here are stage and costume designs, still photographs, posters, and scripts for productions of Macbeth and The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus as staged by Orson Welles, and for Power, a topical drama of the period (over 3,000 images). Also included are 68 other playscripts (6,500 images) and 168 documents selected from the Federal Theatre Project Administrative Records (3,700 images). The Federal Theatre Project was one of five arts-related projects established during the first term of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt under the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Voices from the Federal Theatre

Book is accompnaied by a CD-ROM. Includes index. Contents: Hallie's comet : the Federal Theatre / by Robert Brustein -- The actors. Perry Bruskin ; Jeff Corey ; Jules Dassin ; Rosetta LeNoire ; Norman Lloyd ; Alan Peters ; John Randolph ; Studs Terkel -- The producers. John Houseman ; Woodie King, Jr. ; Robert Schnitzer -- The writers. Arthur Miller -- The variety artists. Bob Baker ; Katherine Dunham ; Virginia Wren -- Other voices. Clinton Turner Davis ; Lincoln Diamant ; Richard Eyre.

WPA Federal Theatre Project, 1935-1939

Offers a history of the Federal Theatre Project as well as excerpts from related documents.