Broadway in the 1930's

Broadway in the 1930s

After the stock-market crash of 1929, and with the Great Depression overwhelming American politics and economics, Broadway undoubtedly plunged as well. The depression profoundly affected Broadway theater, causing the number of productions to decline dramatically, and putting many theater people out of work. Paradoxically, however, this was actually a creative period, perhaps because the depression had a dramatic feeling, inspiring creative works and exciting emotions. Established writers such as Eugene ONeill, George Kaufman, and Marc Connelly organized themselves into the Playwrights Company, and continued to write interesting plays that were often more concerned with the state of affairs in America than before.

Eugene O'Neill

At the same time since the American system seemed to be failing and the new Soviet system seemed possibly promising, many Broadway actors and theater people joined the Communist party. The Soviet Union subsidized its theaters and the actors in Moscow were actually making a living, which was attractive to the American actors and playwrights. As a result of this common shift to the Communist party, many off Broadway theaters now included dramas of social protest, using the slogan "Theater as a Weapon." The New Theater League and the Theater Union produced passionate dramas in order to propagandize the "working class," and left-wing productions became fashionable. Many playwrights used the theaters to make social commentary and advocate communist ideals to the public.