Power

Billed at the time as "A Thrilling Dramatization of Modern Industry" Power takes up a critical issue of the ’30’s: whether electrical power was a commodity or a public good. Echoed in today’s debates over health care and credit reform, the power struggle over the power industry raged before Congress, in municipal courts, under inquiry by the FTC, and through extensive PR campaigns. Power’s 21 scenes are illustrative vignettes more than psychological studies, and complemented by visual projections and voiceovers. The play makes drama of a political struggle, articulating Byzantine corporate structures, statistical profiles, as well as actual contemporary events, such as a Newark, NJ, power failure affecting 1 million people and the battle to create the Tennessee Valley Authority. On its debut in New York, WPA director Harry Hopkins said to the cast: "People will say it’s propaganda. Well, I say what of it? .The big power companies have spent millions on propaganda for the utilities. It’s about time that the consumer had a mouthpiece."