Fefu and her Friends is set in New England in 1935. The 1930s was a decade marked by mass poverty, unemployment as a result of the Great Depression, political extremism in Europe, the rise of Adolf Hitler to power in Nazi Germany, and mass anxiety due to the simmering inevitability of another World War. Fornes was a child in the 1930s and claimed that she set Fefu and her Friends during this time period out of affection. In an interview with Bonnie Marranca she described this period as a "simpler, pre-Freudian time when people were "more wholesome and trusting" and "accepted each other at face value." 

 

In October of 1929, the Wall Street stock market crashed and pulled the economic rug out from underneath the United States. As a result, the economy worldwide spiraled downwards into The Great Depression. A series of unpopular policy decisions made by President Herbert Hoover led to the continual collapse of the market, which had a disastrous effect on his reputation as a leader. Millions of people lost their jobs, and by 1933 nearly a quarter of the population was unemployed. For those fortunate to remain employed, wages fell and industrial production dropped in half. Bread lines, soup kitchens, and a rising number of people affected by homelessness became increasingly common in cities and towns across the United States.

 

In 1932, Herbert Hoover ran for re-election against Democratic nominee Franklin Delano Roosevelt and was swiftly defeated in a landslide. Colloquially known as “FDR,” President Roosevelt took office and immediately took aggressive action to heal the worst economic crisis in America’s history through a series of executive orders. His first one hundred days in office were marked by an astonishing amount of legislation, the benchmark against which all future presidents would be compared. In 1933, President Roosevelt passed a series of federal programs and agencies known as the “New Deal,” in an effort to provide relief and recovery to the American people. Among these programs was the Federal Theatre Project, a federally sponsored program which funded live performances. Established in 1935, the Federal Theatre Project was a tremendous success, and during the next four years would provide employment opportunities for thousands of theatre professionals. The program came to an end as suspected communist infiltration within the group prompted federal investigations and as Congress began to focus its funding on the war effort. 

 

With the above considered, it is perhaps no wonder that Fefu and her fellow academic women gathered to rehearse for a fundraiser. While many academic institutions suffered during the Great Depression and were negatively impacted by budget cuts and decreased funding, teachers and professors benefitted from the renewed importance and emphasis on the importance of quality education.