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During the era often commonly known as McCarthyism, many motion picture and television creators were blacklisted for supposed communist ties. There remained, however, a creative outlet that still welcomed these artists--theatre.
This book explores the role theatre played during this turbulent period, covering the formation of the Theatre Guild (which birthed the Group Theatre), the short-lived Federal Theatre Project, and the investigations of the motion picture and television industries, and Broadway, by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
Appendices discuss McCarthy's role and present the memos of investigator Dolores Faconti Scotti, along with a list of prominent witnesses in HUAC's Broadway hearings, and reactions by artists' unions in the decades following the blacklist.
List of contents
Table of Contents Acknowledgments
A Few Words on Spelling and Usage
Prologue
One. Theatre in America Enters the 20th Century
Two. Un-American Theatre: The Short Life and Death of the Federal Theatre Project
Three. Finding Subversives in Hollywood
Four. Making Work While Blacklisted
Five. What Has My Union Done for Me? SAG, AFTRA and Blacklisting
Six. Actors' Equity Association: The Chronicle of an Anti-Blacklisting Resolution
Seven. Investigating Broadway: The 1955 HUAC Hearings
Eight. After the 1955 HUAC Hearings: A Life in the Theatre Goes On
Nine. The Name on the Marquee: Working on Broadway in the Shadow of the Blacklist
Ten. Investigating Broadway ... Again: The 1958 HUAC Hearings
Epilogue
Appendix A: McCarthyism: Why No Joe?
Appendix B: Serving Subpoenas: The Memos of Dolores Faconti Scotti
Appendix C: Who's Who in the Cast of Witnesses in 1955 and 1958
Appendix D: An Apology from the Unions
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Activist, actor, archivist, historian and union stage manager K. Kevyne Baar brings a lifetime of professional, personal, and academic experience to this book. She lives in Davis, California.
