Furious Improvisation: how the WPA and a cast of thousands made high art out of desperate times ~ Susan Quinn

Quinn (Marie Curie) does a superb job of recounting the rise and fall of the Federal Theatre Project, a wing of FDR’s WPA meant to employ playwrights and actors while providing diversion and inspiration for Depression-ravaged Americans. Quinn shows how, under the management of the irrepressible Hallie Flanagan, the left-leaning FTP facilitated such controversial masterpieces as Triple-A Plowed Under and The Cradle Will Rock while unintentionally setting the stage for the House Un-American Activities Committee and much of the red-baiting and blacklisting of the 1940s and ’50s. (Publisher’s Weekly)

A patron highly recommened this book. He called Hallie Flanagan “a real live-wire.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *