Who Killed Pinocchio?

Today in the TYA class at NYU, we will talk about one of my favorite moments in theatre history: the end of the Federal Theatre Project. The FTP, was a product of Roosevelt's New Deal that put visual and performing artists to work in a series of regional centers around the United States. The program included a series of performance units, as well, including the Children's Theatre Unit. The work produced in this unit was incredible. While the work included traditional adaptations of fairy tales, there were also some new works that explored news and issues of the day. It made the FTP an incubator for new work and new voices... which unfortunately was also the product of its demise in 1939.

The plays that seem to cause the most controversy were The Cradle Will Rock and Revolt of the Beavers, both produced in 1937. These plays explored the plight of workers and decried the greed and corruption that led to unfair working conditions in a steel town and fantasy world, respectively. This fueled anti-Communist sentiment within Congress who eventually defunded the entire Federal Theatre Project in 1939. Both plays are referenced in the 1999 movie, Cradle Will Rock, which serves as an excellent intro to the historic project through the lens of the production process for the titular play. Beavers is briefly mentioned in a scene where two actors dressed as beavers sing and dance for FTP director, Hallie Flannigan. Unfortunately, the movie makes light of the production, casting it off as a cute musical for kids, when in reality it may have been so upsetting to adults that it was the final nail in the coffin for the entire Federal Theatre Project (don't ever call theatre for young audiences "cute" again!).

To raise awareness of the program shutdown, the cast of the children's theatre unit production of Pinocchio in New York City, re-staged the final scene of the play on their closing night in December 1939. As I've heard the story told, the lights suddenly went out and a loud sound - a slam, a bang, or perhaps even a gunshot - rang out through the theatre followed by a funeral scene for the murdered Pinocchio. "Who killed Pinocchio?" the actors cry. In response, the cast reads a list of the names of Congress members who voted to defund the FTP. The cast then led the audience out into Times Square shouting "Save the Federal Theatre!" A Pinocchio puppet was left "dead" onstage in an icon image captured in Life magazine.

It's incredible to think of how widespread and influential the Federal Theatre Project was in its time. I'm also moved by how much a cute, little play for children was able to do. While the result wasn't positive, the incident serves as a strong example of just how power theatre for a child audience can be!

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Needle in a Haystack

My first memorable theatre experience was in 3rd grade when a visiting opera company performed a scene called "I Hate Men" in which the main character, a female teacher, shot dead her male colleagues. However questionable the subject matter, I was hooked and began writing my own scripts. Fast forward 15 years and I was working on the nearly defunct NJ Young Playwrights Festival, providing feedback to young writers in grades 4-12.

In conducting research, the history of the field's development has fascinated me. I have written about that history in an article published in ArtsPraxis and occasionally on the blog for the Young Playwrights Map. Yet this writing is limited to a history of programming influenced by the work done within the national young playwrights competition that eventually became Young Playwrights, Inc. (YPI) founded by composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim and developed by the late director, Gerald Chapman. While the influence of Sondheim and Chapman's work in the field cannot be denied, there have been instances of youth creation of plays prior to the national program at YPI in 1981.

Child performers, Federal Theatre Project
Gary, Indiana

Most noted of these earlier programs is the Marilyn Bianchi Kid's Playwriting Festival at Dobama Theatre in Cleveland begun in 1979. In fact, Cleveland seems to have been an incubator of early work in theatre for young audiences through the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) and Playhouse Square. I'm hoping to get my hands on a copy of Showtime in Cleveland by John Vacha to learn more about that. I am also in search of a piece of information that I swear was in my original dissertation research, but can no longer find: evidence that one of the FTP units (Gary, Indiana perhaps) directly engaged students in writing their own scripts. The unit in Gary had children performing work, so it makes the most sense, but correspondence with a scholar who has studied the FTP in Indiana has me questioning that possibility. Learning about Cleveland's history brings my attention to that unit. I also believe there were playwriting programs for youth in Boston and/or Vermont in the 1960s that may have been precursors to the current competitions and festivals in those areas.

I will keep eyes and ears open for that needle in a haystack. Any leads or ideas are most certainly welcome.

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