The Federal Theatre Project, 1935-1939: Engagement and Experimentation

by Rania Karoula

Overview

Engaging and informative, this book presents a comparative study of the history, performances and politics of the FTP by drawing and exposing further links between American modernism and its European counterparts. It concentrates predominantly on the New York division and its following units: the Living Newspaper, the Negro unit, the Children's unit and the Dance unit. Exploring a range of performances, it suggests that the FTP is responsible for an array of theatrical and dramatic experimentations but that it is also indebted to and carries on from the tradition of the European avant-garde and the contemporary modernist theatrical explorations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474445450
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	12/15/2020
Series:	Edinburgh Critical Studies in Modernism, Drama and Performance
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Rania Karoula teaches contemporary Scottish and modernist drama in the Department of English Literature and Centre for Open Learning at the University of Edinburgh. In addition to her work in libraries and archives, she interned at Oran Mor, Glasgow, with David MacLennan, one of the founders of the 7:84 company. She has organized theatrical workshops with leading Scottish and international dramatists, performers, academics and musicians. Her recent article, “From Meyerhold and Blue Blouse to McGrath and 7:84: Political Theatre in Russia and Scotland”, was considered for the 2019 R. D. S. Jack Prize by the International Society for the Study of Scottish Literatures.

Table of Contents

List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsIntroduction - What was the Federal Theatre project?

1. A Theatre is Born2. The Living Newspaper Part 1: 1935-1937 – The revolution begins3. The Living Newspaper Part 2: 1937-1939 – How not to sing for your supper4. The Negro Unit: Electrifying Harlem, electrifying the nation5. The Children’s Theatre: Playing with Pinocchio and the beavers6. The Federal Dance Project: Dance, Race, Greek tragedy and Helen Tamiris7. The legacies of the Federal Theatre Project

Epilogue: Was it all worth it? The legacy of the FTP in contemporary performance.Archival MaterialBibliographyIndex

What People are Saying About This

Loughborough University Claire Warden

Rania Karoula's study of the Federal Theatre Project is a landmark piece of research. Reading this path-breaking contribution to theatre history one gets the sense both of FTP's political fervour and its innovative aesthetic approach. Anyone interested in the way art and politics intersected in the twentieth century - and might still intersect now - will be fascinated by this compelling volume.

Editorial Reviews

Rania Karoula's study of the Federal Theatre Project is a landmark piece of research. Reading this path-breaking contribution to theatre history one gets the sense both of the FTP's political fervour and its innovative aesthetic approach. Anyone interested in the way art and politics intersected in the twentieth century – and might still intersect now – will be fascinated by this compelling volume.

Claire Warden