THE STORY. The Federal Theatre Project has employed 15,000 artists, performed for 30 million Americans, and staged groundbreaking productions — from all-Black Shakespeare to experimental Living Newspapers tackling fascism, housing, and labor. Now Congress wants to shut it all down.

Accused of communist leanings, FTP director Hallie Flanagan has 90 minutes to save American theatre. Her strategy? Stage her own defense: complete with actors, props, and just enough chaos to prove why the arts matter.

But as the hearing spirals into arguments about censorship, legacy, and who gets to be remembered, Hallie faces an impossible question: What is art worth if it disappears the moment the curtain falls?

Inspired by the true story of America's only national theatre and the woman who refused to let it be erased, The Arena asks why we fight for art — and what we lose when we stop.