Screen Guilds Magazine (November 1935)

Federal Theatre Project Under Way in New York M R. Elmer Rice, Regional Director of the WPA Federal Theatre Proj¬ ect for New York, has approved five drama projects calling for the employ¬ ment of between 1,000 and 1,500 work¬ ers in every phase of theatrical work. Actors, scenic artists, technicians, stage hands, nshers, cleaners, ticket takers, stenographers, typists, company and house managers and workers in every category of theatrical employ¬ ment will find placement in the tasks for which their experience fits them. The five approved projects are: 1. “The Living Newspaper 77 —dra¬ matized news stories. 2. “The Negro Theatre 77 —dramatic and musical. 3. “The Popular Price Theatre 77 — experimental theatre. 4. “The Popular Price Theatre 77 — a similar, but distinct unit. 5. “Research and Publicity Project 77 —statistics and publicity. These projects have been carefully calculated to give employment to the maximum numbers of workers while providing at the same time efficient pro¬ duction of the best class of theatrical entertainment at prices within the reach of those who of late have been obliged to forego theatrical attendance on the score of expense. It is Mr. Rice’s belief that prohibitive prices have kept the legitimate theatre out of the reach of the younger generation to a consid¬ erable extent. By providing these young people with plays which they may see for a low price, Mr. Rice hopes to re¬ capture the interest of the younger generation in the legitimate stage. Mrs. Hallie Flanagan, National Di¬ rector of the Theatre Projects, who was appointed early in September, has di¬ vided the country into twelve regions, each with a regional director respons¬ ible for establishing and supervising local dramatic projects sponsored by non-profit-making organizations. M R. Rice, as Director of the New York Project, has amplified the specifications for the five projects under his jurisdiction as follows: “The Living Newspaper 77 is to be a theatre sponsored by the N. Y. Chapter of the Newspaper Guild, designated to present a one-hour show of dramatized news stories. Newspaper men will col¬ lect and dramatize material: actors, stage hands, technicians and other theatrical workers will assist in its pre¬ sentation. Richard Watts, Jr., motion picture critic of the N. Y. Herald-Tri¬ bune and a well-known writer on theat¬ rical subjects will head this project, which is expected to utilize the service of some three hundred and fifty men and women. “The Negro Theatre, 77 the second unit, will employ approximately two hundred and fifty people. It will be sponsored by the N. Y. Urban League, a Negro cultural organization, and Mr. John Houseman, playwright and direc¬ tor of the Phoenix Theatre, will be in charge. This unit will function in a Harlem theatre, presenting a varied program of dramatic and musical pro¬ ductions with Negro actors, musicians and other theatrical wmrkers. The third and fourth projects will comprise the two experimental theatre groups under the heading of 4 4 The Popular Price Theatre. 77 These will be two distinct projects, the first func¬ tioning under Edward Goodman, form¬ erly of the Washington Square Players, and sponsored by a non-profit-making group of actors, directors and scenic artists whose object is to present plays of an experimental nature which would not be likely to receive commercial pro¬ duction. Virgil Geddes, American playwright, and James Light, director, will head the second project-group, to be spon¬ sored by the New School for Social Re¬ search and the United Neighborhood Houses. This group, likewise, will en¬ deavor to develop young or unknown American writers who might not easily get a hearing elsewhere, and to develop new techniques of production. Each of these projects will have provision for about two hundred and fifty persons. M ISS Phyllis Perlman, a former feature editor of the Associated Press and a writer and press agent of wide theatrical experience, is to head the Publicity and Public Relations De¬ partment. This department, already functioning unofficially, will work in conjunction with a Research and Pub¬ lication Department under the direction of Miss Rosamond Gilder, Editorial Secretary for the National Theatre Conference and author of “Enter the Actress 77 , “A Theatre Library 77 , etc. These departments will provide not only the usual theatrical publicity, but will also collect and compile informa¬ tion and attendance statistics about the • 8 An Interview With Elmer Rice By James H. S. M oynahan . . . Writer-Member of the Dramatists 9 Guild who pinch-hit ly interviewing Elmer Bice, in charge of the New York Theatre Projects, when the latter found himself too lousy to write the article. various acting companies under the Federal Theatre Project. A speakers 7 bureau, organized under their direction, wfill cooperate with schools, churches and clubs. These departments will cre¬ ate, further, a theatrical library which shall be a service model for other re¬ gional projects, will build up a compre¬ hensive play catalogue on historical lines, and will publish bulletins on sub¬ jects of interest to playwrights and theatre directors. Two hundred publicity writers, cler¬ ical workers, and statisticians, approx¬ imately, who have formerly been en¬ gaged in the professional theatre, are expected to find employment in Miss Perlman’s department. Miss Gilder will employ some one hundred and fifty playwrights, adapters, playreaders and theatre research workers. Already plans are progressing for the production of plays by these newly es¬ tablished theatres, and it is hoped that the first offering of a Federal Theatre Project Play will be made around Thanksgiving. W HILE these five projects are al¬ ready lined up, other projects— among them a dance unit, a Yiddish Theatre, and a second Negro Theatre— are being developed, and will be put into operation as soon as the details of their organization and sponsorship are worked out and they are approved by the Regional Director. Mr. Rice’s pol¬ icy for all these projects is to charge a small admission fee, with the greatest number of seats selling for twenty-five and fifty cents. At the present time the WPA main¬ tains a circus unit, marionette and other entertainment units and about twenty-five dramatic and vaudeville units which tour the five boroughs and the CCC camps in the 2nd Corps Area. These will continue to function until a survey has been made and necessary changes and improvements can be put into effect. Many of the persons en- The Screen Guilds' Magazine