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Worker's Theatre As An Inquiry
Process for Exploring Historical Social Issues OF THE THIRTIES: THE MASS RECITATION by George W. Chilcoat Associate Professor of Social Studies Education Brigham Young University January 1996 (Revised April 1996) ABSTRACT This essay proposes the
use of a drama form, the mass recitation, as an useful social studies activity
forstudying the labor movement
during the DepressionThe activity
was derived from agit-prop workers' political theatre of the 1930s.The
essay gives a short history of the workers' theatre as manifested in working-class
amateur theatre, professional left-wing theatre, and the Federal Theatre
project.Next, a social studies activity
explaining the use of mass recitation in the social studies classroom is
described in minute detail.A discussion
on the merits of agit-prop theatre and collective creation follows providing
a rationale for their use in social studies education.The
essay concludes with how to evaluate the activity.
Drama creates a learning environment that brings students together into active mini-communities to study and discuss issues they faced in the classroom and in their personal lives.It offers them the opportunity to create an original play on a subject important to them. While engaged in the drama process, the students are encouraged to investigate a given social issue, analyze and research the issue, make the issue the content of a play, create characters and dialogue, formulate a possible solution, and then presented the play to a variety of audiences.This essay suggests such a drama activity that as a high school teacher I used in my social studies classrooms based on a workers' theatre form of the 1930s:the mass recitation play.The mass recitation is nothing more than a 1930s version of today's rap music.Although it may look complicated its makeup is easily and proficiently adaptable to the capabilities of middle and secondary students. Workers' theatre functioned as a didactic tool in a radical attempt to dramatize and educate the struggle of the common man and woman for the purpose of arousing social consciousness and encouraging social change through collective action.The theatrical approach acted as a public forum involving common workers as political activists as well as actors in which they analyzed current social issues using principles of inquiry and problem-solving.One of the more popular and original theatrical forms developed in the 1930s was the mass recitation.The mass recitation was a dramatic form in which actors chanted in verse, rhymed or unrhymed couplets accompanied by choreographed movements and gestures.This essay (1) presents a short history of workers' theatre of the 1930s; (2) explains the procedures for designing the mass recitation play as a useful social studies classroom activity; (3) shows how workers' theatre can inform current classroom use; and (4) explains how to assess student learning from the activity. Historical
Background In response to the economic and social upheaval of the Depression, the proletarian workers' theatre movement was born which concerned itself with dramatizing the socioeconomic conditions of the working-class as a means for recognizing the class struggle, arousing political consciousness, and promoting social change.(The working-class included blue-collar factory and farm workers, whose primary means of making a living was the exchange of their own physical and mental labor for wages or salaries, and, as a consequence, exerted little or no control over the institutions in which they worked.)Deeply affected by the troubled climate and the momentous historical events of the times, the workers' theatre movement embraced politically left-wing thought and activity promoting a social commitment to human decency and the improvement of society through active political participation to the eradicate inequality, injustice, and exploitation.There were three phases of workers' class theatre in the thirties:the amateur workers' theatre, the left-wing professional commercial theatre, and the Federal Theatre Project.Amateur workers' theatre began in the late 1920s as a result of neighborhood immigrant drama clubs devoted to the defense of the underprivileged in their ethnic communities.Workers wrote, produced, directed, and staged their own propaganda plays about and from the working-class perspective for working-class audiences.By the middle of the decade, amateur workers' theatre gradually gave way to professional left-wing theatre and to the Federal Theatre Project.Professional left-wing theatre companies such as the Theatre Union, the Group Theatre, and the Mercury Theatre, with talented directors, actors, writers, and technical stage hands, attracted large working-class audiences with full-length social problem plays in stationary locations.The government's subsidized Federal Theatre Project in 1935 absorbed a good part of the amateur workers' theatres offering many of the workers skilled in the dramatic arts at least a meager livelihood, provided opportunity to carry out many of the artistic and political ideas of the amateur theatres in a national people's theatre, and put on shows and plays of strong, social significance at cheap prices. Workers' theatre rejected outright the commercial bourgeois theatre and its dramatic forms on the grounds that it did not represent the real life of the working-class.In contrast, the practice of workers' theatre succeeded in the creation and implementation of a new theatrical style - - agit-prop (agitation-propaganda).Common to many of its plays, agit-prop was characterized by a classic problem-solving pattern of action.Beginning in the present demonstrating the immediacy of the problem usually rooted in the political and everyday life experiences of the working-class, the action moves to the past, exploring the causal events of the problem.Next, it moves back to the present with the immediate problem providing and eliminating unsuccessful alternatives along the way.And, finally it closes with a dynamic collaboration between the stage and spectators as participants in the play in presenting, choosing, and encouraging the audience to collective action with the proposal of a specific solution.The typical agit-prop play was short in duration, 5 to 30 minutes; a series of scenes with short episodes of incident following incident by means of economical language, gesture, and rapid action; few easily identified characters, usually no more than 6 to 8 (players sometimes taking two or more parts); limited scenery, usually a black cloth or sketched sheets of paper with a suggestion of place; minimum or no costumes; and a few simple, moveable props.Theatrical forms included the performance of a singular event (employed by the amateur troupes) or a revue (a combination of events with a common theme employed by both the professional left-wing theatre and the Federal Theatre for the production of full-length plays) of songs, skits, pantomimes, choral readings and chants of poems and news events, stage debates, staged trials, animated posters, mass recitations, literary montages, living newspapers, and, on occasion, a short melodrama. Nineteen thirty-nine saw the demise of the workers' theatre movement.Amateur workers' theatre troupes rapidly disbanded (from 400 in 1934 to 12 in 1940) due to economic conditions stabilizing and improving as a result, in part, to the reform measures of the New Deal, and the coming of World War II with the draft and highly paid overtime work retooling for the war effort.The demise of the left-wing commercial theatre was also economic.There was a continual struggle between the desire to do plays which would be afraid of nothing and the knowledge that such productions would be avoided by the moneyed patrons.The Federal Theater project was killed off in June 1939, when Congress cut off all theatre appropriations.The calm for withholding funds was that the Project had become both unnecessary economically and too controversial politically for government support. Despite the fact that the workers' theatre movement of the thirties was extremely brief, an important part of American theatrical heritage was developed as well as a moment of social and political commitment.Theatrical innovation and political activism mutually came together to produce a creative ferment of renewal.Members of the working-class in numbers and with enthusiasm wrote, acted, and viewed political oriented plays; debated social issues and studied possible solutions; and took realistic actions so they could take greater control over their own lives and their communities.Workers' theatre sought to counter feelings of insignificance and helplessness by dramatizing problems and affirming capabilities to better understand and act in collective interests.Although there is no evidence that workers' theatre was effective in making much national change, there is ample evidence that workers' theatre did in fact improve conditions of local communities and neighborhoods.What ran through these plays held promise in helping the working-class empower themselves.Never before or since has theatre come so close to being a truly democratic theatre. THE
MASS RECITATION play Designing and implementing the mass recitation is a small group process of six to eight students involving collaborative discussion and decision-making.Each group develops a storyline based on an assigned topic. Although this essay describes using the mass recitation activity to study events of the 1930s, the teacher can assign or allow each group to choose any contemporary or historical topic. Each group is to develop a 10 to 15 minute class presentation using the mass recitation play form. The time can vary according to the abilities of the students and the desires of the teacher. The activity accommodates all ability levels of students. Although all students should participate in researching the historical information, some may be more adept at script writing, others at building props, whereas almost all can participate in acting out the scenes. No single factor is as important to the success of each drama activity as the way students are grouped. The teacher may want to group the students or allow the student to form their own groups. Regardless of the method used, each group should be as balanced as possible by sex, ability, leadership, and assertiveness. The groups have one week in and out of class to prepared and develop their mass recitations. The teacher reviews with the class the guidelines for creating a play. The process for creating a mass recitation is divided into three broad categories:(1) research and documentation, (2) play design, and (3) presentation. First, each group researches and documents situations it feels would make good drama.Next, the group discusses the ideas and collectively decides what the focus of the play will be, and designs the production. Finally, the group takes the play and presents it before the class audience.The following conditions should be met in designing and staging the play:(1) it is simple and real, yet concrete and definite so that the meaning should be understood at once and understood in terms of a problem; (2) it is objective with all sides of the question given equal emphasis and are presented fairly; (3) it should try to settle or solve the problem; (4) it is interesting, vital and stimulating in terms of the audience; and (5) it is provocative so as to start immediate and spontaneous group discussion among the class audience.
GUIDELINES
FOR designing and staging A MASS RECITATION PLAY There are nine steps in designing a mass chant recitation play:(1) determine the issue to be studied; (2) develop the story line; (3) structure the play into the form of a mass chant recitation; (4) design scenery,(5) rehearse; (6) perform the play; and (7) debrief the experience. Each group develops a play by following these guidelines: Step 1:Decide on an historical or contemporary issue.The conditions that make up the issue should be looked upon as a problem that needs to be solved.From this problem a story line should be established having at least two conflictual positions.The story line should involve a sequence of events.Each event should illuminate a specific point about the problem:(1) What is the problem to be presented?, (2) Who are the characters?, (3) What are the actions of the characters in response to the problem?, (4) What is the time?, (5) What is the place?, (6) How does the event end?Or, does it end? Step 2: Collect the needed information such as eyewitness accounts, stories, and speeches.The information should include the chronology of episodes that made up the issue; any historical background that explains the issue and its causal events; the people who participated in, viewed, or were affected by the issue, any written commentaries or editorials discussing the issue; and any government, organization, or society action or reaction to the issue. Step 3:Design a mass recitation play.Mass recitations did not use “acts”; instead, they used rapid-action episodes.Each episode is a setting for a given circumstance arranged in a series of related incidents to tell a story.One to five episodes are appropriate for the development of a mass recitation play.Economy is important in mass recitations because they are short in duration.Every minute is highly important.Episode to episode, point to point, idea to idea are filled with conflict, emotional crisis, action, developing to a final climax.Despite the number of episodes, a mass recitation is loosely divided into five parts:(1) begin with the event which presents the problem;(2) recognize the importance of the problem;(3) establish what are the causes of the problem; (4) suggest, examine, and discard various alternative solutions until only one remains; then, (5) end the play by advocating a specific course of action or recommended solution to the situation.
Next, put the story line into the desired number of episodes.This involves simultaneously six activities:(1) characterization;(2) structuring the story line into poetic prose; (3) arranging individual and group vocals in telling and/or singing the poetic dialogue;(4) synchronizing vocals with movement and gestures; (5) using music; and (6) deciding on the drama structure.Characterization.Each character in a mass recitation is brought to life through the use of body movement, a cardboard sign hung around the neck, and sometimes, a mask.Body movement should be broad, exaggerated, and energetic.The name of each character is hand-written on a cardboard sign tied with a piece of string to be hung around the neck.(The original idea of the signs was employed to help the worker audience to quickly establish character and grasp the situation of the play.)Masks representing each character can be made out of paper grocery bags by drawing and cutting out the desired face or object.Dialogue.Dialogue is put into a simple story-telling arrangement of metered poetic prose either in rhyme or free verse.In creating effective dialogue, employ short sentences; use frequent verbs to carry on strong action; keep the action in the present tense; include references to describe each character's behavior; avoid dialogue in which two or more people simply talk to each other(Each line should carry the story forward and advance plot action); and delete lines that do not contribute to the main purpose of the scene.Lines are read chant-like, by individuals and by groups.Arrangement of Voices.As dialogue becomes the script, vocal arrangements and movement become the instruments which execute patterns, rhythm, and pitch in producing meaning and emotional effect of the dialogue.Vocal arrangement simply means who and how many will chant when and what of the dialogue.Each group determines who and how many will chant when and at what time - - individuals, a chorus group, or combinations of chorus groups; what contrasts are needed for effect - - gender, protagonists and antagonists, unison and alternate parts; what tempo and rhythm - - slow, fast; what pitch- - different, harmonizing; what stress on particular words - - hard, soft, pause; what tone - - flat, full, nasal, and what volume - - load, soft.Individual and chorus versus individual and chorus tells the story, provides conflict, emotion, and action, and proposes solutions.Movement.Mass recitation is very physical.As vocal arrangements are being made, group movements and gestures need to be determined, coordinated and choreographed.The whole process is a means of cooperating in movement and voice with each member of the group.Movements and gestures involve individuals, groups, or combinations of each. Each move and gesture are meant to illustrate or reinforce the meaning or emotive value of the words.The movements and gestures should by simple, controlled, and clear in giving meaning and action to the dialogue:being able to swing an imaginary sledge hammer as if one were driving pegs into a railroad tie, or pulling an imaginary rope as if one were hauling a boat to shore.Movement and gesture are based on the tempo of beats and who moves when and where.For example, on beat 1 - - characters make movement relating to chanted dialogue; beat 2 - characters make new, alternate movement; beat 3 - characters freeze; beat 4 - some characters move one direction as others move another; beat 5 - some characters move, others freeze; and so on.Determining movement helps when looking at the classroom as a stage and answering these questions:Where should individuals and groups be at the beginning of the play? During the play? At the end of the play?
LEFT__________________DOWNSTAGE__________________RIGHT 1 2 3 45 6 7 8 Arrangement at the beginning of the recitation LEFT__________________DOWNSTAGE__________________RIGHT 54 3186 72 Arrangement at the ending of the recitation
Music.If music is used it should be very simple such as drumbeats to emphasize the verbal and physical rhythm characterized by specific combination of voices and movement.Dramatic structure.There are four basic types of drama structure in mass recitations:the simple chant in a fixed position; the simple chant combined with short pantomime scenes; the simple chant with movement and gesture; and the complex chant with movement and gesture.The simple chant in a fixed position involves characters standing in one position while they simply chant the dialogue (See Figure 1). ____________________ Figure 1:Simple Mass Chant - "Peace Is No Job Of Ours" (Highlander Papers).
____________________ The simple chant combined with pantomime scenes involves a character or a set of characters chanting dialogue very similar to a narration while another set of characters pantomime the movements suggested by the chanting dialogue (See Figure 2). ____________________ Figure 2:A Simple Chant in a Fixed Position - "Stretch-Out" (Highlander Papers).
___________________ The simple chant with movement and gesture involves one character and, or, a chorus chanting dialogue while doing simple movements and gestures (See Figure 3). ____________________
Figure 3:Simple Chant with Movement and Gesture -"Steps" (Shepherd, 1936, pp. 12 - 14).
____________________ The complex chant with movement and gesture involves a combination of a number of single characters and groups chanting dialogue while doing movements and gestures (See Figure 4). ____________________ Figure 4:Complex Chant with Movement and Gesture - "Uncle Sam Wants You" (Highlander Papers).
____________________ Step 4:Improvise the story line, characters, dialogue, voice arrangements, movement, and music with input and suggestions from each member of the group.The process of improvisation involves acting out the characters, the events of each episode, and the creating of dialogue.A constant shift between acting and observing, doing and watching, creating and discussing occurs during improvisation.The group should act out, discuss, and analyze the storyline until the group has the basic structure of the play.Each episode should be simple and to the point.When the group is satisfied with each episode, one member should script the exact wording of lines with accompanying voice arrangements, movements and gestures.The written script is reviewed for additions, revisions, corrections, and particularly in the area of sense making.The script can be organized as follows: Title of the Mass Recitation Play Characters & Voice ArrangementsThe DialogueMovements & Gestures
Step 5:Make simple scenery and props.The basic scenery can be made using a simple flat cotton cloth backdrop usually tacked onto a wall or hung between two poles held by two students during the play.Drawings and sketches identify desired scenes, setting, situations, and characters.Tempera paint works well on cotton cloth in painting scenic depictions.For example.
Painted, flat-surfaced cut-outs, can either be stationary or carried on stage by the characters playing the episode.For example, a board-of-directors meeting is shown.The characters have come on stage carrying a painted, flat-surfaced, cut-out conference table, behind which the characters pretend to sit.Also, signs can be made to identify scenes, setting, and situations. Step 6:Rehearse. The importance of rehearsal involves a preliminary period to search for relationships between characters, groupings, vocal and movement arrangements, and mood; a layout or organization of events, suggested by the previous step; and an adjustment and timing phase wherein final technical arrangements and crucial timing are worked out. Step 7:Present the mass recitation to the class audience. Step 8:(Option)A characteristic of the mass recitations is the use of the "break out".The "breakout" involves the actors stepping out of character and (1) cutting the action of the play and discussing with the classroom audience the feasibility of the proposed solution; or, (2) leaving the play open-ended and asking the audience how they might resolve the presented problem.The audience can offer any number of alternatives to the problem.Members of audience may be invited to participate in presenting a modified or new solution.Or, the play group retires to reorganize and re-work their original conception in harmony with the class discussion.Again, the play is presented before the class. Step 9: Debrief each play by following the evaluation procedures described below. WORKERS'
THEATRE as a Learning process Workers' theater considered itself both as a political and as an educational tool bringing together working-class participants with working-class audiences into a mini-community to deal with real problems the working-class culture faced daily in attempts to find real solutions to achieve a better life.It was believed that by being engaged in a collective decision-making dramatic experience the worker-participants would learn how to use effectively the process of problem solving, identify, investigate, and solve a meaningful social problem, be able to translate the problem-solution drama experience to future situations, and develop an attitude of social consciousness and political activism for the general welfare of all people.The performance of the play also provided an opportunity for the working-class audience to participate and engage in critical dialogue to think in new ways about the social problem introduced by the play and to collectively with the performers to modify the play's presented solution and/or suggest new solutions.The solution scene or episode would be reenacted with a modified or new solution until the audience was satisfied that the solution was feasible and could be vigorously and effectively acted on. The process of collective creation according to Jeffrey Goffin (1995) is a useful educational tool that maximizes the benefits of the learning process.Collective creation refers to both a process and a product.It is an effort to create a play through the aesthetic of collective process to examine a specific issue of importance and celebrate their findings in a dramatic presentation.Group facilitation and organization, research methods, and the opportunity to make meaningful an historical event transformed into drama are integral to its ability to work.It incorporates the creativity and research of the entire group and develops a strong group dynamic that can outlast the production.In its simplest form, collective creation is a group of students working together, having control over the creative process, sharing all of the tasks of production equally, according to their talents and interests, every member participating in its formulation, all decisions made by group consensus.It provides a real opportunity for substantial contributions by each member of the group.Their perspectives, opinions, ideas, and work are validated and valued by their fellow students and their teacher. However, the "agit-prop" nature of workers' theatre does raise at least two criticisms in respect to using collective creation in the social studies classroom.The first criticism addresses the fact that as a drama activity it is nothing more than a domesticated historical recreation and lacks any real punch in studying real problems.In part, this criticism is accurate because this activity was designed to study given historical events of the thirties, in particular, those events involving labor history.I have used purposely popular culture genre from a given historical period to study events and issues of the historical period (See Chilcoat, 1988).I have found that by doing so creates a limited historical environment and a flavor of the times in studying given historical events and issues.However, I argue that by using agit-prop theatre to recreate the past also engages students in analyzing real issues, raises consciousness of their positions, and, at times, stimulates them to take action.Workers' theatre's original intent was designed to address contemporary problems, to train the theatre troupe in problem solving skills hopefully transferable to actual events, and to provoke collective action for the improvement of society.In part that is what this activity is intended to do for students as well:to analyze issues and problems found in historical experience; practice the problem-solution process in studying these issues and problems; and relate historical issues to contemporary society.In the spirit of the agit-prop plays, history is a source for studying and relating historical issues and problems to contemporary issues and problems, thus allowing students to apply what they have learned by informing what they believe can be useful for contemporary society.In fact, even though this activity was designed for the study of a given historical period, it does not diminish its use in studying contemporary issues. The second criticism is that the very nature of agit-prop and the purpose of social studies education are to a great degree inharmonious.Agit-prop theatre is very partisan and usually presents and indoctrinates only one side of an issue.Social studies education, on the other hand, should promote and encourage analysis and thought of all sides of an issue. The partisan problem and encouragement to study the many sides of a given issue are easily resolvable.One, to study the various sides of a given event or issue; identify the various sides or positions of the event or issue; have each group design its play representing one of the sides or positions; compare the various groups' positions and conclusions; determine the differences in the conclusions and how they were arrived; and try to resolve those differences.Second, have each group do what most agit-prop plays did, "break-out" after a solution is present in the play and allow the "class-audience" to discuss and analyze the solution, modify or offer others, and then play them out on the stage; or, "cut-out," leaving the play open-ended, again allowing the "class-audience" to discuss and decide on alternate solutions, each to be played out on the stage. Both the "break-out" and the "cut-out" activities allow students to analyze an event or issue from a number of alternate positions. One other use of this activity is to target a contemporary issue in the community or the school, have students design an agit-prop play using the pattern of beginning in the present demonstrating the immediacy of the issue, moving to the past exploring the causes of the issue, then returning to the present with possible solutions.Have students present their plays to the rest of the school or to the community to develop consciousness on the issue, and, possibly, stimulate some form of social action.It would provide students opportunities to see how actual agit-prop workers' theatre had impact on the lives of real people. Evaluation Discussion and debriefing are what makes any drama exercise important as a learning process.In the process of doing a play students have to talk to each other.It is through this give-and-take talk that students in small groups will solve a multiple set of problems (what is the topic of the play, how will it be portrayed, who will be responsible for what form the play will be?, etc.).The most important problem to be solved will be dealing with a real life situation and what solutions the students will bring to the situation.The secondary problems will involve putting the situation into play form.But it will be through the processes of forming the play that students will learn what will be learned.Students will learn a variety of things:the knowledge contained in the real life situation, the cooperative experiences of the play experience itself, and the ability to solve problems.It is axiomatic that children learn by doing.The processes of doing the play in studying the real life situation, planning, research, exploration, analysis, script writing, rehearsal, and performance requires much on going discussion before and after each process in order to discover and rediscover the central meaning of the story line and the characters portrayed in the story line. However, there are three critical moments during the drama process that discussion will engage students in both the problem solving and the learning processes that will enhance students' diagnostic learnings.These moments during the process are the discussion about the initial incident that will become the focus of the play, the developing of the episodes, and the aftermath of the performance.The initial incident involves asking and answering questions about the real life situation before the situation becomes a story line for the play:i.e., What happened in this situation or incident?, Why did these things happen?, How did those involved feel?, Has anything like this ever happened to you?, What would you do to make this situation come out better?As the situation becomes the story line of the play in the form of episodes, students' discussions as they design each episode will provide ample learning as they analyze problems, assess motives and values, and discover the causes of human behavior.These discussions become, in turn, the internalizing of knowledge that students will acquire as they work and rework the meaning of their situation into play form.The third moment during the play process is after the performance of the plays.This is the time to consolidate learning and analyze students' understandings, interpretations, characterizations, and the actions of their performances.The discussions terminate based on the insights that were developed during the play process and performances and how these insights might inform contemporary experiences of the students. The focus is always on the activity as it relates to understanding events of the 1930s.There are three types of questions asked by the teacher that can evaluate and promote students' retention and understanding: Questions analyzing the structure of each play Who are the main characters of the play? What are the main events? What are the connections between the characters, events, location, etc.? Questions analyzing the issue or portrayed problem of the play What is the issue/problem portrayed in the play? What appears to be the cause of the problem? What solutions were proposed to solve the problem? Are there other solutions not mentioned in the play? How could these solutions be implemented? Questions debriefing each play and the total class activity. What kinds of things occurred during the design of the play? What kinds of learning took place? How could this learning be useful in everyday situations? What conclusions can be made from the activity? CONCLUSIONS Workers'
theatre is an historical medium that can capture the emotional drama of
various historical events of the 1930s.The
educational value ascribed to workers' theatre may be of value in helping
history and social studies students learn problem solving techniques while
studying significant problems of the past.As
an educational tool, workers' theatre, and particularly mass recitation,
can provide a creative outlet which helps to make sense of historical facts
by putting them into meaningful associations and relationships.Although
time may be a factor in most history and social studies classrooms, the
experience and the learning gained through the drama experience may justify
its use.
REFERENCES Information about workers' theatre and for the design of mass recitations came from: Bakshy, Alexander."Ten years of a revolutionary theatre," Theatre Arts Monthly 11 (1927): 867 - 875. Bernard, Heinz."A theatre for lefty: USA in the 1930s," Theatre Quarterly 4 (1971): 53 - 56. Blake, Ben.The awakening of the American theater (New York: Tomorrow Publishers, 1935). Chinoy, Helen Krich."The poetics of politics: Some notes on style and craft in the theater of the thirties," Theater Journal 35 (December 1983): 475-498. Goffin, Jeffrey."The collective creation in the classroom."In Bernie Warren's (Ed.), Creating a theatre in your classroom.(North York, Ontario:Captus University Publications, 1995). Goldman, Harry, and Mel Gordon."Workers' theatre in America:A survey, 1913 - 1978," Journal of American Culture 1 (1978): 169 - 181. Goldstein, Malcom.The political stage:American drama and theater of the great depression. (New York:Oxford University Press, 1974). Gorelick, Mordecai."Theatre is a weapon," Theatre Arts Monthly 18 (1934):420 - 433. Highlander Papers.Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin. Himelstein, Morgan Y.Drama was a weapon (New Brunswick: Rutgers University, 1963). Himelstein, Morgan Y."Theory and performance in the depression theater," Modern Drama 14 (1972):426 - 435. Jones, Mary Wells.A history of the political theater in the United States from 1930-1970 (Dissertation, Tulane University, 1971). Kazacoff, George.Dangerous theatre:The Federal Theatre Project as a forum for new plays, (New York:Peter Lang, 1989). Levine, Ira A.Left-wing dramatic theory in the American theater, (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985). McConachie, Bruce A., and Daniel Friedman.Theater for working-class audiences in the United States, 1830-1980 (Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1985). McDermott, Douglas."Agitprop:Production practice in the workers' theatre, 1932 - 1942," Theatrre Survey 7 (November 1966): 115 - 124. McDermott, Douglas."New theatre school, 1932 - 1942," The Speech Teacher 14, (1965): 278 285. McDermott, Douglas."Propaganda and art:Dramatic theory and the American depression," Modern Drama 11 (1968): 73 - 81. McDermott, Douglas."The theatre nobody knows:Workers theatre in America, 1926 - 1942," Theatre Survey 6 (1965):65 - 82. O'Connor. John, and Lorraine Brown.Free, adult ,uncensored:The living history of the Federal Theatre Project (London:Eyre Methuen, 1980). Petty, Anne W.Dramatic activities and workers' education at Highlander Folk School (Dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 1979). Phillipson, George."Workers' Theatre:Forms and Techniques," Modern Drama 22 (1979): 383 - 389. Rabkin, Gerald.Drama and Commitment:Politics in the American Theatre of the Thirties,(Bloomington, IN:Indiana University Press, 1964). Samuel, Raphael, Ewan MacCall and Stuart Cosqrove.Theaters of the left, 1880-1935: Workers' theater movements in Britain and America (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1985). Shepherd, Susan M."The Mass Recitation," Affiliated Schools Scrapbook 1(1936):10 - 14. Smiley, Sam.The drama of attack (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1972). Workers
Theatre.May, 1931 to May-June,
1933.
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