This thesis is a study of two government-sponsored theaters: the Federal Theatre Project in the United States (1935-1939), and the national theater in Nazi Germany (1933-1945). It analyzes the policies that regulated the theaters and the performances and the degree to which these regulations were followed by each of the theaters.
The study includes opinions from respected theater historians, quotes from individuals who worked for the Federal Theatre Project and the national theater in Nazi Germany, and conclusions of my own. The thesis asserts that, despite the differing philosophies of the United States and Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, the two government-sponsored theaters had more similarities than differences.