New Theatre League

The New Theatre League, organized in 1935 as a left wing federation of little theatres and amateur theatrical groups, produced plays which sought to address the political issues of the late 1930's and early 1940's. Its most successful productions were Bury The Dead by Irwin Shaw The Cradle Will Rock by Mark Blitzstein. Other artists who worked with the New Theatre League include Leonard Bernstein, Bertolt Brecht, Clifford Odets, Albert Maltz, John Garfield, and Lee Strassberg.

The organization also ran a New Theatre School and Theatre Workshop that trained actors, directors, playwrights, and stage managers. Using the Stanislavsky Method, they worked with many who were later to become prominent members of the theatrical community.

The New Theatre League published the following periodicals: New Theatre, Theatre and Film, and New Theatre News.

From the guide to the New Theatre League records, 1935-1942, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)