The Living Newspapers are among the most famous productions of the Federal Theatre Project (1935-39). Across the nation, tens of thousands of citizens saw various “editions” of these topical dramas. They were exciting theatre and effective documentary. They experimented with such stage devices as levels, masks, lighting, projection, and a loudspeaker, and they enlivened the “reporting of actual truth” through episodic scenes that were sometimes realistic, sometimes expressionistic. Since the closing of the Federal Theatre and the virtual death of the Living Newspaper, documentaries have generally become less theatrical and more detached.

Though the stated intent of the Living Newspaper was merely to dramatize the news, most observers found a clear editorial viewpoint. The plays usually ended with the mention of a specific piece of legislation or a critical case currently in the courts that the audience should support.