New Deal for the Arts

  Until its termination in 1939, the FTP performed scores of plays across the nation, staging productions in theaters, schools, churches, parks and community centers, where the public was admitted free of charge. It created thousands of jobs for actors and playwrights as well as ushers, box office operators, set designers and stagehands, and provided free entertainment to those who were least able to afford it. This in itself was a visionary idea.

  No less significant was the nature of the material that was staged. Along with offering an assortment of light entertainment and classical drama, one of the FTP’s core components was “Negro Theater,” intended as an arena for African-American actors and playwrights to display their talents. Another was the “Living Newspaper,” new plays based on newspaper headlines of the day that explored the impact of current events on contemporary society. It is through these largely left-leaning plays that the project captured the unwanted attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee and was eventually forced to shut down.

  Apart from creating a vivid portrait of America in the 1930s in the light of the Roosevelt administration and the rising tide of anti-communist sentiment that ultimately led to the project’s demise, Quinn’s book shows how the arts can serve as cultural catalysts and equitable social condensers when placed in the hands of visionaries.

  Susan Quinn comes to the Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop in Shorewood at 7 p.m. on July 10.