ABSTRACT
Hallie Flanagan's (1889–1969) Arena is the story of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Told from Flanagan's perspective as national director, it offers unique insights into the FTP, from its chaotic formation in 1935 to its untimely demise in 1939. This selection focuses on the ideological foundations of the FTP. As first and foremost an economic relief organization during the Great Depression, the theatre had to go where the unemployed theatre workers were located. Yet for Flanagan, this effort was not enough. Funded by the US federal government, she envisioned the FTP as a “federation of theatres” that would create locally relevant theatre for audiences nationwide (23). In addition to supporting artists, building audiences, and creating opportunities for aesthetic experimentation, she described an FTP that would lay the foundations for the regional theatre movement that would ultimately burst into existence in the late 1940s and 1950s. Focusing on the potential and power of the FTP, this selection demonstrates Flanagan as visionary and provocateur.
