The New Federal Theatre is a theatre company named after the African-American branch of the

Federal Theatre Project The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United ...

, which was created in the United States during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

to provide resources for theatre and other artistic programs. The company has operated out of a few different locations on Henry Street in the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Since 1970 The New Federal Theatre has provided its community with a stage and collection of talented performers to express the voices of numerous African-America playwrights. New Federal Theatre boasts nationally known playwrights such as

Ron Milner Ronald Milner (May 29, 1938 – July 9, 2004) was an American playwright. His play ''Checkmates'', starring Paul Winfield and Denzel Washington, ran on Broadway in 1988. Milner also taught creative writing at the University of Southern Californi ...

(''Checkmates''),

Ed Bullins Edward Artie Bullins (July 2, 1935November 13, 2021), sometimes publishing as Kingsley B. Bass Jr, was an American playwright. He won awards including the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and several Obie Awards. Bullins was associated with ...

(''The Taking of Miss Janine''), and

Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018. October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018) ...

('' For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf'') as well as actors including

Jackée Harry Jacqueline Yvonne Harry (born August 14, 1956) is an American actress, comedian, and television personality. She is known for her starring roles as Sandra Clark, the nemesis of Mary Jenkins (played by Marla Gibbs), on the NBC TV series '' 227'' ...

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...

Debbie Allen Deborah Kaye Allen (born January 16, 1950) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, director, producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She has been nominated 20 times for an ...

Phylicia Rashad Phylicia Rashad ( ) (née Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress, singer and director who is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby S ...

Dick Anthony Williams Richard Anthony Williams (August 9, 1934 – February 16, 2012) was an American actor. Williams is best known for his starring performances on Broadway in ''The Poison Tree'', ''What the Wine-Sellers Buy'' and ''Black Picture Show''. Williams also ...

Glynn Turman Glynn Russell Turman (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. Turman is known for his roles as Lew Miles on the prime-time soap opera '' Peyton Place'' (1968–1969), high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson ...

Taurean Blacque Taurean Blacque (born Herbert Middleton Jr.; May 10, 1940 – July 21, 2022) was an American television and stage actor, best known for his role as Detective Neal Washington on the series ''Hill Street Blues''. He stated that he chose the name ...

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

, and

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three time Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been hailed for his forceful, militant, and authoritative charact ...

History

Through a Mobilization for Youth theatre program, The New Federal Theatre was founded in 1970 by

Woodie King Jr. Woodie King Jr. (born July 27, 1937) is an American director and producer of stage and screen, as well as the founding director of the New Federal Theatre in New York City. Early life and education King was born in Baldwin Springs, Alabama. He g ...

in the multi-ethnic area of lower east side of

. The company received its original funding from a small grant by the New York State Council of Arts and by the

Henry Street Settlement The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founde ...

. While the first season was conducted in the St. Augustine Church basement, construction of the Louis Abrons Arts Center was completed in 1974 through the

. The administrative offices of New Federal Theatre moved back to St. Augustine's Church in 1996 while the company continues to work out of the Louis Abrons Art Center where it holds productions and training programs. Today, the New Federal Theatre maintains acting and playwriting workshops for their students at the Dewey Cultural Center located on St. Nicholas Avenue in New York City. The Department of Cultural Affairs recently cut its $15,000 funding to the

New Heritage Theatre Group New Heritage Theatre Group (NHTG) is the oldest Black nonprofit theater company in New York City, established in 1964. Through its multiple divisions: IMPACT Repertory Theatre, The Roger Furman Reading Series, and New Heritage Films, New Heritage ...

, the New Federal Theatre, and the

Negro Ensemble Company The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) is a New York City-based theater company and workshop established in 1967 by playwright Douglas Turner Ward, producer-actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald S. Krone, with funding from the Ford Foundation ...

, which the companies intend to appeal.

Important individuals

* Woodie King Jr. - Founder - Producer - Director * Laurie Carlos - Director * Shauneille Perry - Director * Pat White - Company Manager * Paula Moss - Choreographer * Judy Dearing - Costume Design * Judy Kadiatou - Costume Design * Ed Montgomery - Musical Arrangement and Direction * Richard C. Mills - Set designer * Bernard Gersten - Producer * Joseph Papp - Producer

Mission statement

The New Federal Theatre brings the enjoyment of live stage to minorities in the Lower East Side as well as in the greater Metropolitan surroundings. The companies existence has brought numerous up-and-coming actors, designers, directors and playwrights to national attention in their fields. "New Federal Theatre's mission is to integrate minorities and women into the mainstream of American theatre by training artists for the profession, and by presenting plays by minorities and women to integrated, multicultural audiences-plays which evoke the truth through beautiful and artistic re-creations of ourselves."

Playwrights

The playwrights listed below developed their voices in African-American theatre through the Federal Theatre Company. Notable playwrights are

Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018. October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018) ...

, Ronald Milner, and Richard Abrons. * Richard Abrons - ''The Brothers Berg'' (2000), ''Whose Family Values!'' (2003), ''Every Day a Visitor'' (2001) * Trazana Beverley - ''The Spirit Moves'' (1994) * Jay Broad - ''Conflict of Interest'' (2000) * Ed Bullins - ''The Taking of Miss Janine'' (1975) * China Clark - ''Bessie Speaks'' (1994) * Clare Coss - ''Our Place in Time'' (2000) * Ruby Dee - ''My One Good Nerve'' (1998) * Donald Thomas Evans - ''It's Showdown Time'' (1976) * Rudolph Fisher - ''The Conjure Man Dies: A Mystery Tale of Dark Harlem (1932)'' (2001) * Jennie Elizabeth Franklin - ''Black Girl'' (1971) (1995) * P.J. Gibson - ''Long Time Since Yesterday'' (1985) * Don Wilson Glen - ''American Menu'' (2003) * Lee Gundersheimer - ''Incommunicado'' (1997) * Nikos Kazantzakis - ''Christopher Columbus'' (1998) * Oliver Lake - ''The Matador of 1st and 1st'' (1995) * Marcia L. Leslie - ''The Trial of One Short-Sighted Black Woman Vs. Mammy Louise and Safreeta Mae'' (1999) * Robbie McCauley - ''My Father and the Wars'' (1986) * Ronald Milner - ''Urban Transitions'' (2002), ''Defending the Light'' (2000), ''Checkmates'' (1988), (1996) * Ntozake Shange - '' For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf'' (1976), (1995) * Howard Simon - ''James Baldwin'' (2000) * Clarice Taylor - ''Spermegga'' (2000) * Samm-Art Williams - ''The Dance on Widows' Row'' (2000)

Productions

The list of playwrights above developed their voice with the assistance from the New Federal Theatre, yet not all plays written by these individuals were performed by the company. The productions listed below were performed by the company at a few different locations in New York City. * Production of ''Black Girl'' by Jennie Elizabeth in 1971 * Production of ''The Taking of Miss Janie'' by Ed Bullins in 1975 * Production of ''For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf'' by Ntozake Shange in 1976 * Production of ''It's Showtime'' by Donald Thomas Evans in 1976 * Production of ''Long Time Since Yesterday'' by P.J. Gibson in 1985 * Production of ''James Baldwin: Soul On FIre'' by Howard Simon in 2000

Critical reception

In the ''New York Times'', David Dewitt described a 2000 production of ''James Baldwin: A Soul on Fire'' in the Abrons Art Center that the as "...a technically modest production; a silk bedspread and scarf-covered lamp are the most telling set pieces". Despite minimal set production, Dewitt found the biographical play of Baldwin was acted out "...with humor, style and raw emotion, it embraces its chosen territory with enthusiasm." On February 16, 1997, Lawrence Van Gelder saw a production of ''Do Lord Remember Me'' at the Kaye Playhouse between Lexington and Park Avenue. Noting all of the cast as "veterans of previous productions of

he play He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

, Gelder found of their performance: "Oral history may not be malleable into shapely and convenient drama, but it rings with unshakable truth".

References

External links

New Federal Theatre records
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

.
New Federal Theatre photographs, 1959-2014
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

{{authority control African-American theatre companies Theatres in New York City Theatre companies in New York City