This is the first of two volumes of documents that describe the growth and development of theater in the United States. This book goes from the beginnings of theater in the North American colonies up to the First World War. It is organized in three chronological sections, each with its own introduction, documents and commentary, arranged into chapters on business practice, acting, theater buildings, drama, design, and audience behavior. Written sources include records of business transactions, letters, newspaper reports, reviews, memoirs and architectural descriptions. There are also numerous pictorial items. Volume 2, scheduled for publication in late 1996, covers the period from 1915 to the present.

Drawing upon archival resources, official correspondence and personal interviews, this 2003 book provides a detailed examination of the operations of the US Federal Theatre Project in the decade of the 1930s. From the colourful bus tours through the Civilian Conservation Corps camps to the turbulent productions of the Living Newspapers, this book recreates the often chaotic but frequently exhilarating story of Uncle Sam as producer. Special attention is given to the controversial Negro unit, the prize-winning production of See How They Run and the mass spectacles that attempted to incorporate Hallie Flanagan's vision of a truly national project rooted in local culture. The Federal Theatre Project: A Case Study illuminates both the ambitions of the programme and the day-to-day details of making art from a new mode - a subsidised national theatre.

This is the first of two volumes of documents which describe the growth and development of theatre in the United States. The first volume covers the period from the beginnings of theatre in the North American colonies up to the First World War. With such an abundance of primary documents to consult, the editors have focused on three specific 'tensions' that have created and sustained American theatre: commercial versus artistic values; urban versus regional theatre; and the controversy over what is American and what is 'foreign' or imported. The volume is organized in three chronological sections, each with its own introduction. The documents and commentary are arranged into chapters on business practice, acting, theatre buildings, drama, design and audience behaviour. Written sources include records of business transactions, letters, newspaper reports, reviews, memoirs and architectural descriptions. There are also numerous pictorial items.

Drawing upon archival resources, official correspondence and personal interviews, this book provides a detailed examination of the U.S. Federal Theatre Project in the decade of the 1930s. It recreates the often chaotic but frequently exhilarating story of "Uncle Sam" as producer. Special attention is given to the controversial Negro unit; the prize-winning production of See How They Run; and the mass spectacles which attempted to incorporate Hallie Flanagan's vision of a truly national project rooted in local culture.