• List of illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. A new deal (or not) for culture; 2. Critical directions: toward a national negro theatre; 3. Producing new dramas: the politics of choice; 4. The unpredictable audience; 5. Acting properly; Afterword; Notes; Index.

"Fraden's active yet balanced voice makes the work approachable for the casual reader yet her meticulous exploration of cultural and political frictions inside and beyond the project represents a significant contribution to the study of Negro FT making it required reading for any serious scholar of not only the Federal Theatre Project but of the American theatre scene of the 1930's." Theatre Studies, Vol. 41

• List of illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. A new deal (or not) for culture; 2. Critical directions: toward a national negro theatre; 3. Producing new dramas: the politics of choice; 4. The unpredictable audience; 5. Acting properly; Afterword; Notes; Index.

"Fraden's active yet balanced voice makes the work approachable for the casual reader yet her meticulous exploration of cultural and political frictions inside and beyond the project represents a significant contribution to the study of Negro FT making it required reading for any serious scholar of not only the Federal Theatre Project but of the American theatre scene of the 1930's." Theatre Studies, Vol. 41

• List of illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. A new deal (or not) for culture; 2. Critical directions: toward a national negro theatre; 3. Producing new dramas: the politics of choice; 4. The unpredictable audience; 5. Acting properly; Afterword; Notes; Index.

"Fraden's active yet balanced voice makes the work approachable for the casual reader yet her meticulous exploration of cultural and political frictions inside and beyond the project represents a significant contribution to the study of Negro FT making it required reading for any serious scholar of not only the Federal Theatre Project but of the American theatre scene of the 1930's." Theatre Studies, Vol. 41