The Federal Theatre Project was set up during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal’s social and economic reforms. It was intended as a relief measure to employ actors, writers, directors and other stage artists, but it also became a platform for new ideas before its funding was cancelled due to the left-wing political tone of some of its productions. The film focuses on preparations for a stage production of The Cradle Will Rock and asks two fundamental questions: To what extent are we prepared to make compromises in order to survive? And at what point do these compromises become immoral? The same questions are raised by the musical’s author Marc Blitzstein, FTP director Hallie Flanagan, and also Diego Rivera, the Mexican painter creating a giant fresco for John Rockefeller.