Hallie Flanagan

FTP director, Guggenheim Fellowship winner, and an amazing visionary

Flanagan Comments

Hallie Flanagan was the intelligent and driven director of the Federal Theatre Project. It is because of her integrity and vision that so many life-changing productions were realized; she provided security to actors and theatre workers in one of the most desperate and insecure times in America’s history.

Beginnings

*Hallie Flanagan was born Hallie Ferguson in Redfield, South Dakota; after her birth, Flanagan’s family left South Dakota and raised the family in Grinnell, Iowa.

*Flanagan married twice; her first marriage was to Murray Flanagan (who died in 1918) and Philip Davis, a professor of Greek at Vassar, in 1934.

*She attended Grinnell College; after her completion of her education there, she enrolled in George Pierce Baker's influential "47 Workshop" class at Harvard University. This class was unlike many others at this time in history because it taught playwriting—something that had never been done at university on United States soil before. It was during this time and at this school (along with Vassar, which was to follow) Flanagan started developing her own concept of an experimental theatre.

Creative Realization and the Guggenheim Fellowship

*In 1926, Flanagan was the first woman to accept a Guggenheim Fellowship; she was to study theatre in Europe. It is during this amazing journey into different theatrical cultures and concepts around Europe that she met some of the most significant people in theatre, such as Galsworthy, Stanislavsky, Gordon Craig, and Lady Gregory. Upon her return to the U.S., Flanagan went back to Vassar and began to incorporate her new concepts into the creation of the Vassar Experimental Theatre.

The Federal Theatre Project Begins

*The Great Depression was an all-encompassing force that left all workers—theatre workers included—utterly and completely out of work. Thankfully, Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration; it had many segments dedicated to giving jobs back to skilled workers. The Federal Theater Project (FTP) was one of the many segments. This New Deal project for unemployed artists was a success—not only were there many meaningful, socially aware productions in its short life, hundreds of poor families were entertained and learned lessons through FTP.

The Living Newspapers

*The most important productions at the FTP were the "Living Newspapers." These plays were based on actual events and/or discussions taken from local and national newspapers. If the writers (who had actually started their careers as researchers) found the articles particularly poignant, they would write a play on it and present it audiences thirsty for cultural and societal meaning--farm policy, syphilis testing, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and housing inequity were considered "hot button" topics.

*The plays were starting to become so left-wing over time that Flanagan has to step in and be the mediator in the middle of some biased works.

*Ethiopia was the first "Living Newspaper" to really spark controversy with the government; the play brought two foreign leaders into light and, though it would have most likely never caused a huge rift in between nations, the government thought it was unsafe to bring foreign leaders into play.

The End of FTP

*The continued issue of leaning political sides became a cloud looming over the FTP; at this point in time, worries over communist undertones in all art were rampant, so any mention of political descent or disagreement was deemed Un-American and challenged in front of committees. Flanagan was summoned by one such committee: The House Committee on Un-American Activities.

*It is during this time in Washington, “The Cradle Will Rock” is to be put on stage; as it had been found as “dangerous” by the House Committee, it was not to be performed onstage. The performers stayed out in the audience the whole night to bring knowledge and entertainment to the audience.

*Although she handled herself with utmost esteem and intelligence, the committee’s insanity over possible communist involvement finally gave the Federal Theatre Project its death blow: vital funding was canceled. This Federal One project was Federal One’s most expensive project, taking 29.1% of its budget.

Flanagan Heads Home

*After four years and the end of the Federal Theatre Project, Hallie Flanagan returned to Vassar—her home—where she continued work with her pivotal group (Vassar Experimental Theatre) until her retirement many years later.

Sources

Bentley, Joanne; Hallie Flanagan : a life in the American theatre

Flanagan, Hallie; Arena; the history of the Federal Theatre

Melosh, Barbara; Government and the Arts: Voices from the New Deal

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/fedtp/ftbrwn01.html