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Furious Improvisation: How the WPA and a Cast of Thousands Made High Art out of Desperate Times
Susan Quinn
#UC3002
Hardcover, 325 pages; 2008
$20.79
Furious Improvisation is a thoroughly engrossing portrait of the Federal Theatre Project, a New Deal program designed to put unemployed actors and stagehands to work (and to entertain and lift the spirits of the American people). Under the passionate and visionary leadership of Hallie Flanagan, the Federal Theatre Project was successful in many ways, creating high-quality and cutting-edge plays that were both popular and critically acclaimed. The productions, which often addressed timely and highly charged issues such as the farm crisis, racism, and the syphilis epidemic, were extremely controversial. In fact, the Federal Theatre Project came to an end in 1939 after being attacked by the House Un-American Activities Committee. (There's a great scene in the book in which the feisty Flanagan, in a committee hearing, describes her employment-generating job as "combating un-American inactivity.") A superb choice for anyone interested in history, politics, or theater, Furious Improvisation offers a fascinating look at innovative governing—and innovative dramatic expression—in desperate times.
(CH)
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