1940: Theatre Research

Theatre Research is an organization set up Nov. 1, 1940, by the Rockefeller Foundation in association with Vassar College and in cooperation with the Federal Works Projects Administration, to make available to the general public the history of the Federal Theatre Project, first government-subsidized and operated theatre in the United States. The staff, headed by Hallie Flanagan, former national director of Federal Theatre, assisted by Emmet Lavery, playwright and former head of the National Service Bureau of the Federal Theatre, completed as of Dec. 31, 1940, the following work:

Arena: An Adventure in the American Theatre, by Hallie Flanagan, published on Dec. 12, 1940, a definitive history of the Federal Theatre from its inception to its end. The appendix includes a list of some 1,200 productions of Federal Theatre over a four-year period, a financial statement of expenditures and income, and an extensive bibliography of books and articles on the project. Upon its publication Arena was reviewed by dramatic and literary critics for its historic and sociological as well as for its theatre value.

The Flexible Stage, by Emmet Lavery, to be published in 1941, a short study of techniques developed on Federal Theatre, including chapters on Living Newspaper, Negro Drama, Religious Drama, Children's Theatre, and Musical Productions.

Documented History of Federal Theatre, by Hal Kopel, to be offered as a doctor's thesis at Northwestern University.

Theatre for Tomorrow, edited by Emmet Lavery, published 1940. Appendix material represents revisions of Catholic drama surveys of National Service Bureau.

All of the research for the various volumes was based on a special loan collection of Federal Theatre records loaned by the Government, at the request of the President of the United States. See also DRAMA.