Collaborators – The Federal Theatre Project

THE FEDERAL THEATRE PROJECT
COLLABORATORS

Xephyr Adams

Xephyr Adams is a freshman Theatre major at Radford University. Xephyr’s favorite moment was the first in-person collaborative class period with Virginia Tech.

Hailey Barnson
Hailey Barnson is a junior Theater major at Radford University. A highlight for Hailey has been getting to work with so many people, and collaborating outside the university. She also enjoyed the prop encounter work we did in class!

Katie Beazley
Katie Beazley is a first-year graduate student in the MFA in Applied Theatre and Public Dialogue program at Virginia Tech. Her favorite part of the project has been collaborating with her classmates and finding different ways to bring this vital time in American theatre history back to life!

Gwyndara Burkett
Gwyndara Burkett is a freshman at Radford University double majoring in Theatre and Psychology. Gwyndara’s favorite moment in class was making tableaus, particularly from news articles everyone had to read at home and then shape in class together.

Nicole Friess-Schilling
Nicole Friess-Schilling is a first-year MFA candidate in Applied Theatre and Public Dialogue at Virginia Tech. Her favorite part of the process has been devising new work based on images and props and the immersive nature of this classwork.

Caili Harris
Caili Harris is a first-year Theatre-MFA candidate in the Arts Leadership Program at Virginia Tech. Their favorite part about this process has been learning more about Living Newspapers and embodying headlines from today and from 1935-1939 in tableau work. Caili has truly appreciated the opportunity to learn about this meaningful part of American theatre history that so few know about, and to tell the stories of those who fought to create meaningful socially active art.

EPV
EPV is a theatre practitioner and a scholar interested in drama as a driving force of society.

Molly Hood
Molly Hood is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Cinema at Radford University. Molly enjoyed collaborating with Amanda Nelson/Virginia Tech on this second Performing History Project. She also enjoyed seeing the students discover how to use props and other artifacts from the past.

Emma Hughes
Emma Hughes is a sophomore double majoring in Human Development and Theatre with a concentration in Performance and Design at Virginia Tech. The most impactful project for Emma was learning about how there were many projects related to the Federal Theatre Project, like the Federal Dance Project.

Madyson Jeffries
Madyson Jeffries is a Junior Theatre major at Radford University. A favorite moment of Madyson’s throughout the Performing History class was all the times the class explored The New York ‘Times Machine’. She enjoyed seeing all the headlines and different ads on the pages!

Jade Lemon
Jade Lemon is a sophomore Theatre major at Virginia Tech. Something that has really impacted them throughout this class is the scary truth of how we are repeating history from the 1930s.

Daniel Menegay
Daniel Menegay is a sophomore at Radford University and is a Theatre major. Daniel liked that each student had to write a monologue for a historical figure. He enjoyed writing his monologue.

Amanda Nelson
Amanda Nelson is a faculty member in the Theatre program in the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech. She is thrilled to have had the opportunity to collaborate once again with Molly Hood/Radford University on “Performing History” and looks forward to future collaborations.

Ashlee Ramey
Ashlee Ramey is a senior at Radford University with a dual focus in Theatre Performance and Technical Theatre. Her favorite moment from this course has been learning the impact The Federal Theatre Project had on the lives of theatre workers, and how the art form persevered throughout a time of struggle.

Donny Rinker
Donny Rinker is a senior Theatre major at Radford University. Donny’s favorite moment as Stage Manager was watching all the different types of prop encounters that the actors chose to create.

Brandon Smith
Brandon Smith is a junior Theatre major at Radford University. The most impactful moment of Brandon was when the Virginia Tech class came to visit, and he got to meet and connect with his Pen Pal for the first time.

Callie Stapleton
Callie Stapleton is a Theatre Arts Performance major at Virginia Tech. Callie has enjoyed the whole Performing History Project, but one of her favorite things was learning about the Federal Theatre Project and the extent of its impact during the Great Depression and beyond. She also enjoyed working with students from another university and seeing the extent of what the collaboration could accomplish.

Bonnie Zare
Bonnie Zare is a Professor of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies and Sociology at Virginia Tech. Thinking back over the class, she marvels that she had no prior sense of the existence of the Federal Theatre Project nor of its rich history and provocative nature. She appreciated how each class stimulated creativity by firing up both writing and acting skills, and leading the group members to productive playfulness.

Noah Zirk
Noah Zirk is a Theatre Performance and Design major, with a Political Science minor at Virginia Tech. You may recognize him for his recent role as Laurie from Little Women. The most meaningful lesson that Noah learned is that history repeats itself, but the human spirit will always overcome hardship. We’ve made it this far as a humanity, and we will keep pushing forward.

Back to our theatre

Perry Bruskin • Martin Dies • Hallie Flanagan (1935) • Hallie Flanagan (1939) • Rosamond Gilder • Susan Glaspell • Hazel Huffman • Frida Kahlo • Mary Merrill • Virginia Nicholson • Elmer Rice • Eleanor Roosevelt (1935) • Eleanor Roosevelt (1939) • Franklin Delano Roosevelt • Olive Stanton • Helen Tamiris • Orson Welles • Artwork • Collaborators • Directors’ Note • Front Page Tableau • Music • Pen Pals • Research/Source Material • Share Your Thoughts • Special Thanks