Federal Theatre and Group Theater: Crash Course Theater #42

The 1930s in the United States were pretty bad for employment in all industries, and the theater was no exception. As part of Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Works Progress Administration created a division called the Federal Theatre Project. The agency created theater companies across the country to put actors and crew back to work in the theater industry. The shows were free, and thanks to forward thinking administrators, a lot of them were pretty interesting. You’ll also learn about the Group Theater today. They’re the super-influential troupe, with the totally lame name. Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at Thanks to the following Patrons for their generous monthly contributions that help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever: Eric Prestemon, Sam Buck, Mark Brouwer, Naman Goel, Patrick Wiener II, Nathan Catchings, Efrain R. Pedroza, Brandon Westmoreland, dorsey, Indika Siriwardena, James Hughes, Ken