The Playbook

Author: James Shapiro

USA | 20th century | Theatre studies | History of the Americas | 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 | Social & cultural history | History of ideas | Politics & government

Published on 5^th June 2025 by Faber & Faber in the United Kingdom.

Paperback / softback | 384 pages
129mm x 199mm x 27mm | 312g

'Tremendous.' DAVID HARE'An absorbing, necessary book.' AHAD AKHTAR'Fascinating and energising.' FINANCIAL TIMESFrom the 'Winner of Winners' of the Baillie Gifford Prize, a timely and dramatic story of a utopian American experiment, and the self-serving politicians that engineered its downfall.

In 1935 the American public was presented with a radical opportunity. Established under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, the Federal Theatre Project would employ 12,000 artists, writers, and actors; stage more than 1,000 productions; and reach over 30 million people. Its output included Orson Welles' directorial debut, a landmark modern dance programme, and shows that sought to shed light on the reality of racism, inequality and the dangers of fascism.

But within three years, an opportunistic Texas congressman had embarked on a campaign to destroy it, inventing a playbook that echoes into the culture wars of today.

From one of the world's great storytellers, The Playbook is an illuminating account of a terrifyingly prescient moment in twentieth-century American cultural history.