The Federal Theatre Project Analysis

The set used for Vernon God Little was highly symbolic and simplistic; when we walked into the theatre we could visually see that there were flowers, cards and memorable items attached on the audiences seats above our heads, which already created a sombre atmosphere around the theatre.

Before the 20th century, people used music and dancing to tell stories, but it had nothing to do with developing musical theater. Musical theatre is a type of play that tells a story through songs, spoken dialogue, and dancing. During the 20th century, there was a lot of change going on in Musical Theatre. Musicals are different from other types of stage works such as opera because a musical would not be a musical without the music, story line, or dancing. European operetta was becoming more popular than American Musical Theatre. The two main types of opera that were being made were called ballad operas and comic operas which had romantic plots. American composers sought to come up with something new, since Musical Theatre was not very popular with the general public. There were a lot of components that helped shape musical theatre in America , but most think that it was mainly developed because of the different tastes developing, likeable styles, spirit and energy by composers in America, it was not. Although musical theaters origins are not certain, Musical theatre gradually developed using influences of ballad opera, comic opera, operetta, vaudeville, and burlesque.

The Globe Theater was a theater that was built and owned by Shakespeare and the group he belonged to called the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Although it is not known exactly when the theater was built, the first record of it shows that it was built before the end of 1599. The Globe Theater was built using lumber from a theater that was not very far away. Even though the Globe Theater was built with wood from a dismantled theater, it was not the same as the previous theater. In fact the globe theater was much larger than the previous one. The theater was a great success for many years; nevertheless, it was burned down in summer of 1613 during a play of Henry VIII. During the performance something happened to a theatrical cannon to cause it to misfire

Throughout the late 1920's an important theatrical movement developed: The Workers' Theatre Movement. In the end, it diminished around the middle of the 1930's, and one of the developments aiding the decline of the Workers' Theatre Movement, was the creation of the Federal Theatre Project. The Federal Theatre Project was the largest and most motivated effort mounted by the Federal Government to organize and produce theater events. Once the government took on the duty of putting people to work, it was able to consider the movement. The Federal Theatre Project’s purpose was “to provide relief work for theatrical artists that utilized their talents and to

After the golden years known as, The Roaring Twenties,the U.S experienced the greatest economic crisis in human history known as the Great Depression.People struggled just to get by,actors especially .The Federal Theater Project (FTP), was a government funded program to help struggling performers find work.Though the idea of such a program was revolutionary,it failed, and ended a few years after its creation. The FTP ultimately didn’t establish what it set out to do.

The case titled The Theatre Budget was a short journal about a frustrated Vice-President of a performing

In 1933, the Great Depression was at its peak. As people were struggling to find work and survive in a crumbling economy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created a program called The New Deal to help alleviate some of the United States’ problems; such as helping the poor and unemployed, repairing the economy, and fixing the country’s financial issues. With it, another project was formed which would radically change the world of theatre. The Federal Theatre Project, sponsored by the Works Progress Administration, funded theatre projects, employed actors, and created meaningful art (Simkin).While The Federal Theatre Project was an important tool to keep theatre alive and people employed during The Great Depression, it also had much greater after-effects; altering the role and effect of theatre in the years to come.

The Great Depression in the 1930s was a devastating blow to the American economy and peoples. In fact, it left 15 million people, more than twenty percent of the population, unemployed and without a source of income. Jobs were few and far between for everyone, but some of those whom the unemployment hit hardest were those involved in theater and the arts. That was where the Federal Theater Project (FTP) was intended to come into the picture; however, it did not do so successfully.

The early 1930s was home to one of the most devastating times in American history. Many Americans were unemployed, making little money, and struggled getting by everyday. One thing that brought people together were the theatrical arts. The Federal Theatre Project (FTP) helped to bring jobs and entertainment to people during the Great Depression. The FTP did many things to bring theatrical works across the country, but the short span of four years questions its effectiveness.

IATI Theater seeks NEA funds to support artist fees, production and direct touring costs for “TRIPLE PLAY SERVICES TO LATINO COMMUNITIES”. This program seeks to provide a bridge between artists and under-served communities in the Northeastern United States. The program combines 3 different services with the goal to engage our communities in the performing arts while providing artists a platform to fulfil their dreams and improve their skills.

Applied theatre refers to the practice of theatre and drama in a non-traditional setting. It focusses on social and cultural issues including health and social welfare, but is also used as a rehabilitator, team building in a corporate setting and most importantly education. Applied theatre takes many different forms, is used in many different settings and can focus on a diverse range of issues. There are many applied theatre companies both in Australia and internationally; examples include: Geese Theatre Company, Shakespeare Behind Bars, Big hART, Western Edge Youth Arts, Theatre for Living and Milk Crate Theatre. These companies use Prison Theatre, Community-Based Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed in their work, which all fall under the

The nature of the theater audience has changed throughout history, cyclically evolving from a participatory crowd to a group of people sitting behind an imaginary line, silently observing the performers. The theater scene of Washington D.C is no exception. Much like politically-influential Athens, Rome, and London before it, this great city also ranks as one of the extraordinary cultural capitals of the world. The main topic studied in class was the naissance and realization of regional theater in our nation’s capital. Zelda Fichandler, D.C’s regional theater forerunner observed that “[O]ur descendants will ask how we came to do this with our theatre and why we waited so long and labored so confusingly”. The honest answer to these questions

The season of the 1930’s sparked the strike of the Great Depression. To the surprise of many, theaters everywhere began to shut down. People around the nation lost jobs and struggled to provide for themselves. However, there was a breakthrough: Franklin Roosevelt created the New Deal. Funded by the government, the New Deal created jobs in a variety areas. Even with these changes the theaters and arts still had difficulties. Thus, the Federal Theater Project was established. The projected presented over 1,000 performances each month and life was pumped back into theaters.

As stated in the Living Theatre book, "should we envy nations with a national theatre? In the United States there is no national theatre, but National Endowment for the Arts and state art agencies do provide some sort of government support towards theatre companies". Furthermore, if people agreed to envy nations with a national theatre they only have a few good points. Like these facts that the French are able to have an official home for theatre, but also have an advantage on icons producing their work. To comment on that a lot of people would be fascinated at the thought that an icon worked there, not really looking at the bigger picture as in if a National Theatre could benefit if you wanted to join. Like picking a college the best college is not always the best for some. Secondly, if we look at theatre it has Europe's name all over it and the United States needs something like that besides typical Broadway. Besides the people who choose to envy just look at the Comedie Francaise and what it has brought to the table and do not see the downside.

During the era of 19th Century drama, theatre gained an immense amount of popularity, while developing in the terms of technology used in theatres, but this will focus on the later part of the 19th century. In 1881 the first theatre is lighted by electricity, just 2 years after the light bulb is invented. Lighting is important to theatre because it allows for night time shows in enclosed theatres, and lights the stage as well. Along with the first revolving stage in 1896, Vaudeville became a popular form of entertainment in the United States. In politics during 1857 Czar Alexander II begins the emancipation of serfs in Russia, which allowed Russian peasants to have freedom. In another act of freeing oppressed peoples, the American Civil War began in 1861. After the North won in 1865,