Good Morning POU! Isn’t it interesting how history just repeats itself?
Members of Congress criticized a total of 81 of the Federal Theatre Project’s 830 major titles for their content in public statements, committee hearings, on the floor of the Senate or House, or in testimony before Congressional committees. Only 29 were original productions of the Federal Theatre Project. The others included 32 revivals or stock productions; seven plays that were initiated by community groups; five that were never produced by the project; two works of Americana; two classics; one children’s play; one Italian translation; and one Yiddish play.
The Living Newspapers productions that drew criticism were Injunction Granted, a history of American labor relations; One-Third of a Nation, about housing conditions in New York; Power, about energy from the consumer’s point of view; and Triple A Plowed Under, on farming problems in America. Another that was criticized, on the history of medicine, was not completed.
Dramas criticized by Congress were American Holiday, about a small-town murder trial; Around the Corner, a Depression-era comedy; Chalk Dust, about an urban high school; Class of ’29, the Depression years as seen through young college graduates; Created Equal, a review of American life since colonial times; It Can’t Happen Here, Sinclair Lewis’s parable of democracy and dictatorship; No More Peace, Ernst Toller’s satire on dictatorships; Professor Mamlock, about Nazi persecution of Jews; Prologue to Glory, about the early life of Abraham Lincoln; The Sun and I, about Joseph in Egypt; and Woman of Destiny, about a female President who works for peace.
Negro Theatre Unit productions that drew criticism were The Case of Philip Lawrence, a portrait of life in Harlem; Did Adam Sin?, a review of black folklore with music; and Haiti, a play about Toussaint Louverture.
Also criticized for their content were the dance dramas Candide, from Voltaire; How Long Brethren, featuring songs by future Guggenheim Fellowship recipient Lawrence Gellert; and Trojan Incident, a translation of Euripides with a prologue from Homer.
Help Yourself, a satire on high-pressure business tactics, was among the comedies criticized by Congress. Others were Machine Age, about mass production; On the Rocks by George Bernard Shaw; and The Tailor Becomes a Storekeeper.
Children’s plays singled out were Mother Goose Goes to Town, and Revolt of the Beavers, which the New York American called a “pleasing fantasy for children”.
The musical Sing for Your Supper also met with Congressional criticism, although its patriotic finale, “Ballad for Americans”, was chosen as the theme song of the 1940 Republican National Convention.