Jan 14, 2011 waiting for lefty by clifford odets directed by drew vanderburg this is the first of seven segments of odets s famous unionization play. The play, which focuses on a group of taxi drivers planning a labor strike, was the first of odets works to be performed on the stage. Pdf waiting for lefty, which was written by clifford odets during the great depression of the thirties, has become not only an emblematic play of. A fat man of porcine appearance is talking directly to the audience. Benjamin, miller, stein, mitchell, phillips, keller. Apr 25, 2015 inspired by the new york city taxi strike of 1934 the agitprop play waiting for lefty by clifford odets was set for its town hall premiere that summer in provincetown. Waiting for lefty, workers theatre performance and audience.
Lefty is the story of a meeting of a new york cab drivers union on the verge of a strike. In the 1930s he became a charter member of the group theatre, the famous method acting troupe founded by harold clurman, lee strasberg and cheryl crawford. Waiting for lefty by clifford odets university of washington. This is followed by a moving confrontation between. Waiting for lefty, a play written by clifford odets, is a perfect representation of the political and social unrest in america during the great depression in the 1930s. Odets fame as a playwright was made when he wrote and acted in waiting for lefty, produced by the group theatre in 1934. In the 1930s, odets sociallyaware dramas were the most influential and popular produced. Dps offers an extensive list of titles that includes many of the most significant plays of the past century. Awake and sing 1935 is a naturalistic family drama. In other words he is the head of a union and the men. Waiting for lefty book by clifford odets 1 available.
Six plays deal with unions, an antinazi group, work, loneliness, the depression, and the american obsession with. Famoso por sus obras waiting for lefty 1935, paradise lost 1936 y the country girl 1950. Waiting for lefty by clifford odets directed by drew vanderburg this is the first of seven segments of odets s famous unionization play. Odets was born in philadelphia to louis odets born gorodetsky and pearl geisinger, russian and romanianjewish immigrants, and raised in philadelphia and the bronx, new york. The stage is assumed to be the platform at a labor union meeting, and the. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of waiting for lefty by clifford odets.
Waiting for lefty is a play set during the great depression. It tells the story of 56 men who create a union meeting that was meant to bring together workers who were getting underpaid. Waiting for lefty, oneact play by clifford odets, published and produced in 1935. Waiting for lefty remained popular and will remain relevant as an artifact of this time period as an expression of the ideology of american communism. The opening night of clifford odets waiting for lefty, the pivotal play of the workers theatre movement, is legendary. Coming in the midst of the depression and labor struggles of the 1930s, the play was labeled as communist propaganda by critics. Waiting for lefty waiting for lefty is a 1935 play by the american playwright clifford odets. Waiting for lefty revisited by odets in his play waiting for lefty clifford odets attempts to stir up the weary american public of the 1930s by providing examples of everyday people who, with some coaxing, rise above the capitalist mess theyve inherited and take control of their destinies.
Consisting of a series of related vignettes, the entire play is framed by the meeting of cab drivers who are planning a labor strike. Department of english letters, faculty of letters, sanata dharma university, 2009. Lolling against the proscenium down left is a young man chewing a toothpick. In a series of six vignettes, various drivers make a plea to strike. Apr 16, 2015 director judith israel describes clifford odets waiting for lefty, his firstproduced play, as neglected and she thinks that happened because for so long, it was dismissed as. There are more than 1 million books that have been enjoyed by people from all over the world. The framing uses the audience as part of the meeting. While its dramatic style has long since fallen out of fashion along with the idealistic politics that inspired it, it is considered a prime example of a genre known as revolutionary or agitprop theatre. Waiting for lefty is a series of varied episodes that blend into a powerful mosaic of the american working class. Always update books hourly, if not looking, search in. While this was not odets first play, this was the first to be produced.
Waiting for lefty and other plays, clifford odets, 1939, drama, 418 pages. One of the first examples of proletarian drama, the play takes place during the depression, in a meeting hall of the taxi drivers union. Odets gained little recognition in the organization as an actor, but his first play, waiting for lefty, became a huge success, appearing on broadway and in many cities across the united states. Clifford odets waiting for lefty kansas city public library. His first play, waiting for lefty 1935, an agitprop play about strikers, was an enormous success. Clifford odets july 18, 1906 august 14, 1963 was an american playwright, screenwriter, and director.
Clifford odets dropped out of high school to pursue acting. The year waiting for lefty was published, odets was officially a part of the communist party, and it is apparent throughout this script. Mon, september 9, 2019 when first staged in new york city in 1935, waiting for lefty made a sensation of its playwright, clifford odets. Waiting for leftly clifford odets flashcards quizlet. Odets goal in waiting for lefty is to awaken the class consciousness of the audience by the gradual unfolding of the class consciousness of his characters. Waiting for lefty is a 1935 play by clifford odets. Odets s waiting for lefty 1935, his first great success, used both auditorium and stage for action and was an effective plea for labour unionism.
Odetss waiting for lefty 1935, his first great success, used both auditorium and stage for action and was an effective plea for labour unionism. Its production in new york was simultaneous with the citys famous taxicab strike, and for that reason among others it gained considerable public attention. The framing uses the audience as part of the meeting the play was premiered by the group theatre, a new york city theatre company founded by harold. He was raised in philadelphia and in the bronx, new york, and dropped out of school to become an actor. From january 1935 odets socially relevant dramas were extremely influential. In the mid1930s he was widely seen as the potential successor to nobel prizewinning playwright eugene oneill, as oneill began to withdraw from broadways commercial pressures and increasing critical backlash. He became the theatrical conscience of his generation, much as arthur miller and tony kushner would be later for theirs. When it was first produced by the group theater in 1935, waiting for lefty made a sensation of its playwright, clifford odets, who became the theatrical conscience of his generation, much as arthur miller and tony kushner later would for their own generations. Waiting for lefty by clifford odets looking up at down readings february 1821 some of the most influential theatre artists of the twentieth century, men and women who were instrumental to the development of theatre and film in america, passed through or were once associates of the group theatre. Waiting for lefty edition 1 available in paperback. Odets fame as a playwright was made when he wrote and acted in waiting for lefty, produced by the. This video contains fats opening monologue and the joe and. We begin in a hiring hall where a union leader obviously in the pay of the bosses is trying to convince a committee of workers who are waiting for their leader, lefty, to arrive not to strike. This play was written at an apt time of the birth of the labor organization that was market by violence and.
Dec 12, 2010 waiting for lefty by clifford odets directed by drew vanderburg in this last segment the union workers declare a strike, to stand up for their right to earn a living wage. Welcome to the teacher resource guide for lincoln center theaters production of clifford odets classic play golden boy. Waiting for lefty, written by clifford odets about a 1934 taxi union strike, is one of the best examples of this tradition, written while odets was working with the group theatre in new york. Odets takes his audience to the middle of the taxi workers planned strike, which has a lot of political aftereffects for america in 1935.
Most of his other plays of the 1930s, most notably awake and sing 1935 and paradise lost 1935, concern the economic and psychological plight of poor new york city jewish families and heighten middleclass jewish speech into a kind of poetry. Clifford odets author of waiting for lefty and other plays. Waiting for lefty revisited by odets essay literature. Waiting for lefty is ingenious and forthright rather than impressive as play writing. On it are sitting six or seven men in a semicircle. In waiting for lefty, odets is a righteously indignant man, speaking in his most stentorian tones, writing an angry social document, the product of youth and vigor. The event was cancelled by the board of selectmen stating that the play is about strikes and things, and gives people the wrong kind of ideas. Click download or read online button to waiting for lefty andotherplays book pdf for free now. But not until after the unexpected success of odets waiting for lefty, staged as a benefit for new theatre magazine in winter 1935, did the group produce odets first fulllength work.
Waiting for lefty as the curtain goes up weseea bare stage. Dramatists play service, one of the premier playlicensing and theatrical publishing agencies in the world, was formed in 1936 to foster national opportunities for playwrights by publishing affordable editions of their plays and handling the performance rights to these works. Consisting of a series of related vignettes, the entire play is framed by a meeting of cab drivers who are planning a labor strike. The year waiting for lefty was published, its author, clifford odets, was officially a member of the communist party, the ideology of which is clearly expressed in. Clifford odets waiting for lefty is not a timeless story rather it is the produ ct of a specific time and culture that needs to be scrutinized in order to evaluate its value better.
May playwright clifford odets eugene oneill foundation. Class struggle as the impact of oppression seen in clifford odets waiting for lefty. One of the most celebrated and significant plays of the modern american theatre, waiting for lefty by clifford odets is set in the depression era and deals with the exploitation of the working classes. Clifford odets 19061963 odets was born in philadelphia to an impoverished jewish family.
Analysis waiting for lefty 1935 clifford odets 19061963. Waiting for lefty is a hamhanded political statement to make the point that communism lefty. Clifford odets is regarded as one of the greatest american playwrights of the 20thcentury. The audiences, caught up in a felt connection between their own plight and the plays version of the countrys political failures, would. One of the most celebrated and significant plays of the modern am. Beginning with waiting for lefty 1935, odets quickly became the most famous young playwright in america. The play narrates the story of union of taxi drivers who were deliberating on if they should go one a strike or not. His works, including waiting for lefty, awake and sing. During the play these men are waiting for a man named lefty, who is the leader of this union.
Waiting for lefty by clifford odets directed by drew vanderburg this is the first of seven segments of odetss famous unionization play. Waiting for lefty was widely staged throughout the country and brought odets sudden fame. The dialogue is powerful but simplistic, stereotypical. Class struggle is a collective effort of an oppressed class against the class that oppresses them. Waiting for lefty is a 1935 play by the american playwright clifford odets. Waiting for lefty by clifford odets berkshire fine arts. Waiting for lefty by clifford odets directed by drew vanderburg in this last segment the union workers declare a strike, to stand up for their right to earn a living wage. Clifford odets 19061963 waiting for lefty is ingenious and forthright rather than impressive as play writing. Playwright clifford odets, the unextinguished white hope of the american theater as he was called by newspapers in the 30s, was known for pioneering social dramas such as waiting for lefty and awake and sing. Waiting for lefty 1935, a play by clifford odets, is considered a prime example of a genre known as revolutionary theater.
The union members are waiting for their representative, lefty, to arrive so that they can vote on a strike. In waiting for lefty, odets captures fully the folk idiom of the six people on whom his play focuses. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. First presented by the famous group theatre, the play has become a symbol of its times and a beacon for many soontobe famous playwrights. Waiting for lefty study guide contains a biography of clifford odets, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The stage is assumed to be the platform at a labor union meeting, and the audience to be the assembled members of the. Lefty is the story of a meeting of a new york cab drivers union on the verge of a. In waiting for lefty, the radical play of the 1930s, clifford odets s characters suffer not only from poverty but also from disintegrating families and a decline of individual honor. Waiting for lefty waiting for lefty is a 1935 play by the american playwright cli.