Drawing of The Fairy Queen Costume
1939
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These records consist of watercolor and graphite sketches of costumes for a New York Federal Theatre Project production of "Pinocchio."
Yasha Frank’s Pinocchio – a children’s play written and produced by Frank as part of the Work’s Progress Administration’s (WPA) Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Over the next six months, the theatrical presentation would be performed in New York 197 times and work it’s way west to be performed across the country.
Established by executive order in 1935, the WPA assumed a dominant role in work relief activities during the Great Depression. It was one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal programs and sponsored the FTP as one of the five arts-related Federal Project Number One projects. The Federal Theatre Project was intended to improve unemployment in the entertainment industry. Actors, directors, playwrights, designers, vaudeville artists, stage technicians, and other skilled craftspeople in the theater field benefited from the program.
But in addition to providing jobs for employable people on the relief rolls, the FTP offered many Americans their first opportunity to see live theater. Many FTP productions were classical dramas, vaudeville, or light comedy, including a variety of children’s plays like Treasure Island, Hansel and Gretel and – of course – Pinocchio.
Yasha Frank’s Pinocchio – a children’s play written and produced by Frank as part of the Work’s Progress Administration’s (WPA) Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Over the next six months, the theatrical presentation would be performed in New York 197 times and work it’s way west to be performed across the country.
Established by executive order in 1935, the WPA assumed a dominant role in work relief activities during the Great Depression. It was one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal programs and sponsored the FTP as one of the five arts-related Federal Project Number One projects. The Federal Theatre Project was intended to improve unemployment in the entertainment industry. Actors, directors, playwrights, designers, vaudeville artists, stage technicians, and other skilled craftspeople in the theater field benefited from the program.
But in addition to providing jobs for employable people on the relief rolls, the FTP offered many Americans their first opportunity to see live theater. Many FTP productions were classical dramas, vaudeville, or light comedy, including a variety of children’s plays like Treasure Island, Hansel and Gretel and – of course – Pinocchio.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Work Projects Administration.
National Archives Identifier: 26138914
Full Citation: 69-PIN-3; Drawing of The Fairy Queen Costume; 1939; Sketches of Costumes for a Production of "Pinocchio", 1939–1939; Records of the Work Projects Administration, Record Group 69; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/drawing-of-the-fairy-queen-costume, November 11, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.