Struggling Toward an American National Theatre
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Michigan Technological University Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports 2018 STRUGGLING TOWARD AN AMERICAN NATIONAL THEATRE Rebecca Ann Soderna Michigan Technological University, [email protected] Copyright 2018 Rebecca Ann Soderna Recommended Citation Soderna, Rebecca Ann, "STRUGGLING TOWARD AN AMERICAN NATIONAL THEATRE", Open Access Dissertation, Michigan Technological University, 2018. https://doi.org/10.37099/mtu.dc.etdr/625 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etdr Part of the Theatre History Commons STRUGGLING TOWARD AN AMERICAN NATIONAL THEATRE By Rebecca Ann Soderna A DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In Rhetoric, Theory and Culture MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2018 © 2018 Rebecca Ann Soderna This dissertation has been approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Rhetoric, Theory and Culture. Department of Humanities Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Daryl Slack Committee Member: Dr. Patricia Sotirin Committee Member: Dr. Stefka Hristova Committee Member: Lisa Johnson de Gordillo, MFA Department Chair: Dr. Ronald Strickland I dedicate this work to my parents who first introduced me to the wonders of live theatre, who instilled in me a love for learning, and who encouraged me to pursue my dreams no matter how impossible they seemed. 4 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 8 Setting the Stage ..........................................................................................................19 Re-working the Script ..................................................................................................21 New Relationships Forged ............................................................................................22 A Cultural Studies Approach ........................................................................................23 But, it’s been 80 years . .............................................................................................24 CHAPTER ONE .......................................................................................................................... 27 Articulation .................................................................................................................27 It Can’t Happen Here ..................................................................................................31 Struggle ......................................................................................................................34 CHAPTER TWO ......................................................................................................................... 42 Contextualizing National Theatre .................................................................................42 Theatre in the United States ..........................................................................................46 Patronage, Control, and Governmental Responsibility for Culture ...................................48 Resisting the Traditional “Model” .................................................................................52 CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................................... 56 Attempts to Create an American National Theatre Program – Pre-New Deal Era ..............56 American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) .........................................................62 Attempts to Create an American National Theatre Program – Post-New Deal Era ............65 CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................................ 70 We let out these works on the vote of the people ..............................................................70 Failure to Transcend ...................................................................................................90 Political ......................................................................................................................91 Economic ....................................................................................................................94 Artistic/Cultural ..........................................................................................................96 Legacy of the Failure to Transcend ...............................................................................97 CHAPTER FIVE ......................................................................................................................... 99 Control, Resistance, and Rearticulation .........................................................................99 Resisting the Traditional National Theatre Paradigm ................................................... 102 Paternalism ............................................................................................................... 103 5 Nationalism and Governmentality ............................................................................... 107 “High” Art ................................................................................................................ 111 Privileged Space ........................................................................................................ 116 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 121 An American National Theatre ................................................................................... 124 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 127 6 Acknowledgements I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my committee, Dr. Jennifer Slack, Dr. Patricia Sotirin, Dr. Stefka Hristova, and Lisa Johnson de Gordillo for their vast knowledge, their generous spirits, and their infinite patience. 7 Abstract The United States is conspicuously lacking in a large-scale government subsidy program for the arts and has never established a National Theatre. This makes us unique among most developed nations in the world as well as among many developing countries that established national theatres early in their burgeoning histories, and it begs the question: why has government support of the cultural life of the nation never been a priority in the U.S.? One notable exception to this can be found in considering the work accomplished by the Federal Arts Projects created under the auspices of the Work Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s. The policies enacted by the Roosevelt administration to address the crippling social and economic issues of the day signaled a profound shift in the ways in which the government responded to the needs of the people and resulted in the development of a new and sweeping form of federally funded welfare relief that extended to white collar workers and artists. Contested on political and economic grounds, the social welfare programs of the New Deal were the source of much debate, but none more so than the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Using a cultural studies approach and the theory of articulation I consider the complexity of the FTP from a perspective that appreciates its transitory nature while also considering the multi-dimensionality of the project, thus providing a much richer way to analyze what articulations between social practices can teach us about larger questions of power and resistance. My intention is to challenge the perception of the FTP as either a failed attempt at a government supported theatre project or a model to be replicated but rather to consider how engagement in the process of struggle led to FTP innovations that can inform the future development of a National Theatre in the United States. 8 INTRODUCTION The United States does not have a National Theatre and this is significant. It is significant because the absence of such a theatre reveals much about the complexity of the ongoing struggle between the government (as patron) and the arts in this country. And it is this ongoing struggle that has come to characterize attempts to fulfill the dream of building a National Theatre in the United States. In considering the concept “National Theatre” I concede that there are as many subtleties in definition and design as there are unique national theatre programs scattered throughout the world. There are, however, two characteristics of any national theatre that I argue must be present in order for the program to be considered a true “National Theatre.” First, a National Theatre program must enjoy government involvement in its founding or administration. Second, a National Theatre must be funded, at least in large part, by the government (in the U.S. the expectation would be that this subsidy come from the federal government and not be left to the individual states). This general descriptor is broad enough to encompass a number of national theatre arrangements but insists on this level of government support and subsidy in order to be considered a true “National Theatre.” I provide these criteria as they play a central role in contextualizing one of the most significant and ongoing aspects of the struggle to build a national theatre program in the U.S.: the challenging relationship between the government and the arts world, particularly