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The Theatre Nobody Knows: Workers' Theatre in America, 1926-1942

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2010

Douglas McDermott
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Extract

In the midst of the currently fashionable lament over the death of the drama, or of the theatre, or of the idea of a theatre, it is strange that the Workers' Theatre, deliberately created to meet a specific cultural ideal and productive of its own particular theory, literature, and style of production, could exist for nearly twenty years, flourish in popularity for half that time, and yet remain unknown. Stranger still that the only study which is even partially comprehensive should choose to view this theatre as an organ of the Communist Party, to be given the same condescending treatment as that political movement itself. Such are the dangers of treating theatre as a weapon rather than as an art.

Type
Research Article
Information
Theatre Survey , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , May 1965 , pp. 65 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © American Society for Theatre Research 1965

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References

NOTES

1 Himelstein, Morgan Y., Drama Was a Weapon, the Left-Wing Theatre in New York, 1929–1941 (New Brunswick, N. J., 1963).Google Scholar

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4 Hicks, Granville and others (eds.), Proletarian Literature in the United States (New York, 1935), p. 261.Google Scholar

5 An autobiographical sketch written by Bonn is quoted in a memorandum from Alfred B. Kuttner to Hiram Motherwell, October 1, 1936, New York City Office Correspondence, 1935–1939, Federal Theatre Project Records, Records of the Works Progress Administration, Bureau of Social and Economic Records, The National Archives, Washington, D.C.

6 “German Revolutionary Theatre,” New Masses, VI (December, 1930), 20.

7 “Workers' Art,” New Masses, V (October, 1929), 29.

8 Blake, op. cit., p. 18.

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12 Ibid.

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17 Pevzner, Samuel A., “Boston,” New Masses, VII (October, 1931), 28.Google Scholar

18 Ibid.

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21 Ibid.

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23 Ibid.

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51 “The Curtain Rises,” New Theatre, III (November, 1936), 4.

52 “Marching Song,” New Theatre and Film, IV (April, 1937), 17–18.

53 Unless otherwise noted, “Shifting Scenes,” a regular feature of New Theatre, is the source of information for each production listed in this paragraph.

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64 “The New Theatre School,” New Theatre News, I (January/February, 1939), 5.

65 “Life Assurance for N. T. L.,” New Theatre News, I (June, 1940), 8.

66 “Curtain Calls,” New Theatre News, I (February, 1940), 6.

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73 “Typical Booking Schedule,” New Theatre News, I (December, 1938), 13.

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75 “Editorial,” New Theatre News, I (December, 1938), 6.

76 “Convention Afterthoughts,” New Theatre News, I (July, 1940), 1.

77 “Conference Report,” New Theatre News, II (January, 1941), 2–3.

78 New Theatre News, I (November, 1939), 11.

79 “Statement of Profit and Loss,” New Theatre News, I (July, 1940), 2.

80 “The N. T. L. Balances the Budget,” New Theatre News, I (November, 1939), 10.

81 “The New Theatres and Royalties,” New Theatre News, I (February, 1940), 15.

82 “Editorial,” New Theatre News, II (December, 1940), 1–2.

83 Ibid., p. 1.

84 Ibid.

85 “Editorial,” New Theatre News, II (January, 1941), 1.

86 Forsythe, Robert, “Wanted: A Theatre,” New Masses, XXIX (October 18, 1938), 15.Google Scholar

87 Hicks, Granville, Where We Came Out (New York, 1954), p. 42.Google Scholar

88 Gassner, , op. cit., p. 268Google Scholar; and Houghton, , op. cit., p. 274.Google Scholar

89 “Call to a New Theatre League Convention,” New Theatre News, I (April, 1940), 5.