Waiting for Lefty

Director's Note

Waiting for Lefty by Clifford Odets is an important part of American theatre history. As a member of the famed Group Theatre in the 1930’s, Odets’ writing changed the style of theatre being done on Broadway. His characters were working class New Yorkers who struggled with the same things the audience members did. When they saw Lefty, the response was electric, with the audience giving the performers a 45-minute standing ovation with 26 curtain calls. The Group Theatre ushered in a new style of acting and Odets was their voice.

When we selected Lefty for the season, we had no idea how prescient the choice was. While the Writers’ Guild seems have negotiated a new contract, the auto unions are just ramping up. Strikes have been happening from Starbucks to healthcare networks. Driverless cars are currently pushing cab drivers out of their jobs in San Francisco, and income inequality is greater than ever, with CEOs making hundreds of times what their line workers are paid. Collective bargaining is the only leverage many workers have to force their employers to deal fairly. In the height of the Depression, with million out of work, Odets’s characters were the voice of the oppressed, and his words still resonate.

Dramaturgy Note

On March 26, 1935, in the Longacre Theatre, New York, Waiting for Lefty made its Broadway debut. The show was written by Clifford Odets, who was “regarded as one of the greatest American playwrights of the 20th-century.” Odets was born in 1906 to a Russian and Romanian-Jewish family. He grew up in the Bronx, where he attended two years of high school before dropping out to pursue theatre.

Odets joined The Group Theatre, a theater company founded in 1931 by Lee Strasberg, Harold Clurman, and Cheryl Crawford. Their company was known for using an adaptation of Konstantin Stanislavski’s work (Russian director and acting teacher), which Strasberg called “The Method.” This style of acting’s goal was to create an authentic performance, allowing audiences to feel as if the performances were a reflection of “real life.” The Group was successful, and their work became popular because of the universal themes that reflected American social issues, like the taxi strike of 1934 - the inspiration behind Waiting for Lefty.

The Great Depression affected Americans across the country in one way or another, no matter their economic or social status. The working class found their salaries cut but still were expected to work the same amount. Around this time, the Communist Party became popular among those who were poverty-stricken and oppressed by the rich. People became drawn to “Red” ideals because it meant that wealth was shared for the overall communal good. As a result, workers across different industries began to form unions. Longshoremen and textile workers were some of the many workers who came together to fight for better wages and working conditions. For taxi drivers, a strike was inevitable after having to drive around aimlessly, knowing the current lack of demand because people could no longer afford to ride in cabs.

Since the Great Depression, our country has grown accustomed to unions going on strike. In the past months, the Writers Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, and the United Auto Workers have gone on strike to fight for better salaries and compensation for their work. Our country may be divided, but we can agree on the importance of standing up for what you believe is right. We can credit this act of bravery back to the union workers of the Great Depression, who were fearless enough to set the example for us today.

We invite you to use this inflation calculator to help you better understand the price changes from 1934 to today.

For more information on The Group Theatre please watch this documentary.

Special Thanks

Hometown Values