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Summary
‘Tremendous.’ DAVID HARE
‘An absorbing, necessary book.’ AHAD AKHTAR
‘Fascinating and energising.’ FINANCIAL TIMES
From the ‘Winner of Winners’ of the Baillie Gifford Prize, a timely and dramatic story of a utopian American experiment, and the self-serving politicians that engineered its downfall.
In 1935 the American public was presented with a radical opportunity.
Established under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Federal Theatre Project would employ 12,000 artists, writers, and actors; stage more than 1,000 productions; and reach over 30 million people. Its output included Orson Welles’ directorial debut, a landmark modern dance programme, and shows that sought to shed light on the reality of racism, inequality and the dangers of fascism.
But within three years, an opportunistic Texas congressman had embarked on a campaign to destroy it, inventing a playbook that echoes into the culture wars of today.
From one of the world’s great storytellers, The Playbook is an illuminating account of a terrifyingly prescient moment in twentieth-century American cultural history.
James Shapiro, who teaches English at Columbia University in New York, is author of several books, including 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare (winner of the BBC4 Samuel Johnson Prize in 2006), as well as Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? He also serves on the Board of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
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James Shapiro shares a list of titles for readers interested in better understanding where our current cultural battles come from …