Cradle Will Rock is a dramatization of a true story that really happened in 1936. The central plot of the movie is the Federal Theater Project that is sponsored by the WPA. The theme of this project is to make the low cost theater available to the masses, especially the unemployed. One project is a musical, “The Cradle Will Rock”, written by Hank Azaria’s character. But because of its controversy it becomes very hard to find a theater that will allow it to be shown. Being fun and humorous the movie indeed has a lot of satire and irony.
It chronicles the erosion of politically popular theatre into the generally escapist entertainment that pervades most American arts today. Indeed the main thesis that Robbins wanted to present to the audience was the real conditions and purposes that a theater industry had at those times and how it was depended on the government policies as well as other spheres of art and music. He also wanted to show how various government programs were created in order to make the theater industry live. But when a performance was somehow politically wrong it was immediately shut down. But at the end we see how human spirit triumphs over “regulation.” As I said this movie was based on the true story. During the Depression, there was a government funded theater program, created to give work to professional actors, and to make live theater affordable for the average person.
The story revolves around a pro-union musical, “The Cradle Will Rock,” written by Marc Blitzstein (Hank Azaria), to be produced with government funds, and directed by Orson Welles (Angus MacFadyen).
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At the same time, there is concern about possible Communist infiltration of the program, and a Senate sub-committee begins hearings in an effort to root out the “Reds.” This witch-hunt precursor to the infamous McCarthy hearings brought about the closing of the show before it ever opened. The theater in which it was to be staged was closed down, and the actors forbidden (under union sanction) to take the stage anywhere else in order to perform this show; and it all came down on the eve of opening day. Welles and company managed to secure a venue anyway, with the idea that Blitzstein (who was not a union member) would play piano and perform the entire show himself. And for this one performance, the entire cast was seated in the audience to watch, and give Blitzstein some moral support. Near the beginning, when he falters, one of the actresses, Olive Stanton (Emily Watson), rises from her seat and begins singing her part; and, one by one, the rest of the cast follows suit, until the entire show is performed by the actors from their places in the audience.
This project was obviously a labor of love for Robbins, as a statement against censorship, as well as to illustrate the tyrannical embolisms that can be caused by fear. Unfortunately, he takes this opportunity to make other statements as well, involving the politics of big business, and of wealth, and how it all tied in, and still does, with business as usual in Washington today. And, though his stand is well-taken, to anyone not quite up to speed with their history, at least concerning this particular facet of the Depression, the story just seems to cover too much ground in too short a time. True, the events enacted here are significant, and they do tie in with the funding of the theater program, but the story of the show, of Welles, of all the other members of the cast, and everything that went into it, was enough story for the movie on its own; but, perhaps, that movie wouldn’t have made the impact Robbins had set out to make. As it is, “Cradle Will Rock” is fairly entertaining, but to actually learn anything from it, one would have to make a number of cross-references first, before making any conclusions. Concluding my paper I want to say that Robbins must be given credit for making a noble effort with “Cradle Will Rock,” and it does shed some light on an important moment in the history of the theater..
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Essay Anne Meijer Theater maakt niet gelukkig, maar is een illusie. Als je aan mij vraagt wat ik van theater vind, dan is mijn antwoordt: “Ik vind het vreselijk!” Waarop iedereen dubbel ligt van het lachen, en mij een pessimist noemt met droge humor. Van acteren je beroep maken Veel mensen denken dat acteurs en actrices veel geld verdienen en er weinig voor hoeven te doen. Dit is omdat veel ...
