All Play and No Work

“Drawing connections among American work culture, theater, and history, Paul Gagliardi’s valuable contribution to studies of the Federal Theatre Project focuses on little-studied performances centered on labor. All Play and No Work illuminates federal theatrical contributions to Depression-era American work life and representation, thus highlighting the importance of Federal Theatre’s brief and significant American cultural moment.”-Leslie Frost, Teaching Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and author of Dreaming America: Popular Front Ideals and Aesthetics in Children’s Plays of the Federal Theatre Project “All Play and No Work is an essential study of the Federal Theatre Project, focusing on its long-neglected comedies. Paul Gagliardi demonstrates that comedic productions, from Eugene O’Neill’s Ah, Wilderness! to popular con-artist comedies, were far from being merely light entertainment. Instead, these comedies reveal New Deal-era concerns surrounding the nature of labor and work. Combining cultural history, insightful textual analysis, and production histories, Gagliardi’s interdisciplinary approach contextualizes Federal Theatre Project comedies while bringing them to life in this indispensable book.”-Julie Burrell, Associate Professor of English, Africana Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies, Cleveland State University, and author of The Civil Rights Theatre Movement in New York, 1939–1966: Staging Freedom "All Play and No Work is an enjoyable read and Gagliardi fills the pages with excellent analysis and a wide range of information that reveals the meaning of the plays within the context of the Depression era."-History: Reviews of New Books "In his highly readable examination of comic plays produced by the Federal Theatre Project (FTP), Gagliardi takes his readers into a unique corner of the FTP and its essential impact on the American theater of the 1930s and beyond.... Gagliardi's particular emphasis on the labor movement and the economic challenges faced by the poor and middle classes freshly illuminates the culture and history of the era. His study emerges as an essential book for students of the early-20th-century American theater.... Summing Up: Highly recommended."-Choice