Sophie Cox

Julie Wunsch

History of Theatre

May 1, 2023

Federal Theatre Project, The Cradle Will Rock

During the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President. He then

established the Works Progress Administration, which was a government led program which

aimed to help families get back into the work force in order to elevate those struggling

financially at the time. From there, Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt’s deputy hired Hallie Flanagan

Davis, a professor of drama at Vassar, to lead the Federal Theatre Project. The goal of this

project was to put actors, techies, stagehands, and all others involved in theatre back into theatre.

I believe the conditions of the Works Progress Administration developed the conditions for the

project because since there wasn’t such a financial burden on families and individuals, people

were freer to experiment, and commit to leisure activities, so the arts were able to thrive at this

time because of that. However, the foundation suffered a loss when the WPA closed “The Cradle

Will Rock”, though, this project resulted in a revitalization of interest in theatre.

I believe a character who is a reflection of the Federal Theatre Project would be Olive

Stanton, who was a working actress trying to get a job in theatre. In the beginning of the movie,

she is standing in the line waiting for some sort of job in theatre, provided by the Federal Theatre

Project, and then once she gets to the front of the line, the lady tells her she cannot be cast in

anything, but they are open for stagehand positions, which she took to just be able to be back in

the theatre. Her story reflects the time period because she embodies someone who was cut out of

work because of the Great Depression, and the Federal Theatre Project helped her get back into it
and just being able to be back in the theatre doing stagehand stuff, was able to get her name out

there. It was also reflective on the time period just by the scene where she is standing in the line

for a very long time, while more wealthy people were able to just pass by and talk to someone

like Hallie Flanagan, played by Cherry Jones, and run something by her which she agreed upon.

While the poor like Olive had to stand in the line and didn’t have advantages like that.