Clifford odets waiting for lefty pdf

Lefty, a play about a taxi drivers strike, sought to engage the audience with the production and meld leftwing labor politics and artistic forms. In a series of six vignettes, various drivers make a plea to strike. Waiting for lefty as the curtain goes up weseea bare stage. 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. Playwright clifford odets, the unextinguished white hope of the american theater as he was called by newspapers in. Lefty is the story of a meeting of a new york cab drivers union on the verge of a. Waiting for lefty by clifford odets directed by drew vanderburg this is the first of seven segments of odetss famous unionization play. In the climactic finale of his taxiunion drama waiting for lefty, the. 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. In the 1930s, odets sociallyaware dramas were the most influential and popular produced. Waiting for lefty has 1 available editions to buy at half price books marketplace. Consisting of a series of related vignettes, the entire play is framed by a meeting of cab drivers who are planning a labor strike.

Clifford odets was born july 18th, 1906 in philadelphia, pennsylvania. Waiting for lefty is ingenious and forthright rather than impressive as play writing. 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. Its mission to find relevant and meaningful subjects for their productions made it the ideal creative home for the young writer, and, in 1935, he delivered a short play entitled waiting for lefty. The flowering peach, clifford odets, oct 1, 1973, drama, 89 pages. Complete summary of clifford odets waiting for lefty. The year waiting for lefty was published, odets was officially a part of the communist party, and it is apparent throughout this script. Waiting for lefty, oneact play by clifford odets, published and produced in 1935. It was with this group that odets shot to fame with a series of plays that he wrote during the early and mid30s. The event was cancelled by the board of selectmen stating that the play is about strikes and. On it are sitting six or seven men in a semicircle. Clifford odets author of waiting for lefty and other plays. Odets fame as a playwright was made when he wrote and acted in waiting for lefty, produced by the. Coming in the midst of the depression and labor struggles of the 1930s, the play was labeled as communist propaganda by critics.

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. Full text of three dramas of american individualism see other formats. His later works were more conventional in style and content and seldom preached a political message. His plays include waiting for lefty, awake and sing. This was the quintessential proletarian drama in which the actors and the. 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. The opening scene is a hiring hall where a union leader obviously in the pay of the bosses is trying to convince a committee of workers. Consisting of a series of related vignettes, the entire play is framed by the meeting of cab drivers who are planning a labor strike. 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. Clifford odets interesting stories about famous people. First presented by the famous group theatre, the play has become a symbol of its times and a beacon for many soontobe famous playwrights. Clifford odets july 18, 1906 august 14, 1963 was an american playwright, screenwriter, and director. The union members are waiting for their representative, lefty, to arrive so that they can vote on a strike.

His works, including waiting for lefty, awake and sing. This video contains fats opening monologue and the joe and. Waiting for lefty book by clifford odets 1 available. A fat man of porcine appearance is talking directly to the audience. 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.

Clifford odets biography list of works, study guides. By clifford odets 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. Full text of three dramas of american individualism. Odets began his acting career playing small supporting roles and understudying at the poets theatre and the guild theatre. Clifford odets was arguably one of the most skilled playwrights of 1930s american social protest. Waiting for lefty is a 1935 play by clifford odets. This was the quintessential proletarian drama in which the actors and the audience on opening night arose at the end of. Waiting for lefty is right on the money by kris neely these commentaries are primarily focused on the production, direction, and technical aspects of theater and performing arts. In other words he is the head of a union and the men. Is waiting for lefty a universal play, or is it too tied to place new york and to time the great depression of the 1930s. The stage is assumed to be the platform at a labor union meeting, and the audience to be the assembled members of the. Waiting for lefty is a 1935 political and perhaps even revolutionary play written by american playwright clifford odets. 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. Waiting for lefty is a hamhanded political statement to make the point that communism lefty.

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 remained popular and will remain relevant as an artifact of this time period as an expression of the ideology of american communism. Waiting for lefty by clifford odets berkshire fine arts. During the play these men are waiting for a man named lefty, who is the leader of this union. It was firstly produced by the group theatrean american, new york city.

Clifford odets iconic 1935 play waiting for lefty was first produced for the group theatre in new york city, pictured above. 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. The depiction of the american working class in waiting for lefty gained odets many accolades and earned him great fame. 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. 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. While this was not odets first play, this was the first to be produced.

Class struggle is a collective effort of an oppressed class against the class that oppresses them. Clifford odets is regarded as one of the greatest american playwrights of the 20thcentury. Its production in new york was simultaneous with the citys famous taxicab strike, and for that reason among others it gained considerable public attention. 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 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. Waiting for lefty is a 1935 play by the american playwright clifford odets. The framing uses the audience as part of the meeting. Waiting for lefty, which odets wrote in three days, crosscut a union meeting with scenes of the aftermath of the depression, which had left more than one in four workers unemployed. 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.

He met harold clurman when he began attending initial meetings. Waiting for lefty by clifford odets university of washington. Waiting for lefty solidarity forever part 7 of 7 youtube. 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. Basing his work on a 1934 taxi strike in new york, clifford odets wrote the play in three days for a contest of one.

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 19061963 odets was born in philadelphia to an impoverished jewish family. These two early plays by odets have been dismissed by some critics as leftwing propaganda. Waiting for lefty is the best strike play to come out of the great depression.

Buy a cheap copy of waiting for lefty and other plays book by clifford odets. He was raised in philadelphia and in the bronx, new york, and dropped out of school to become an actor. Lolling against the proscenium down left is a young man chewing a toothpick. 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. Waiting for lefty is a play set during the great depression.

A critical and popular success, this masterfully constructed work brings searing intensity and rare theatrical excitement to its probing, yet sharply. The roundabout theatre company presented the first revival of odets s 1949 play, the big knife, in the spring of 20 at the american airlines theatre in new york, with doug hughes. Waiting for lefty was not odets first play, but it was the first play of his that was produced and became the first real critical and popular success for the group theatre, appearing on broadway as well as in cities around the united states. The action of the play is comprised of a series of varied, imaginatively conceived episodes, which blend into a powerful and stirring mosaic. Books by clifford odets author of waiting for lefty and. One of the first examples of proletarian drama, the play takes place during the depression, in a meeting hall of the taxi drivers union. 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. 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. Waiting for lefty waiting for lefty is a 1935 play by the american playwright clifford odets. Department of english letters, faculty of letters, sanata dharma university, 2009. Welcome to the teacher resource guide for lincoln center theaters production of clifford odets classic play golden boy. Odets s early, more leftwing plays, such as waiting for lefty, awake and sing.

Seattles waiting for lefty university of washington. Benjamin will be played by fred maurer september 28 october 1. Benjamin, miller, stein, mitchell, phillips, keller. Clifford odets 19061963 waiting for lefty is ingenious and forthright rather than impressive as play writing.

Odets fame as a playwright was made when he wrote and acted in waiting for lefty, produced by the group theatre in 1934. Waiting for lefty production staff waiting for lefty by clifford odets the role of dr. Clifford odetss name will always be associated by theatergoers with the word strike. Walt odets vividly remembers riding in a car with his father, clifford odets, on the way home from a ucla production of the elder odets 1938 drama rocket to the moon. Class struggle as the impact of oppression seen in clifford odets waiting for lefty.

Clifford odets is bestknown for his early, depressionera dramas, particularly waiting for lefty, an overt work of propaganda that tells a story of workingclass struggle, intended to promote a socialist revolution. His writing is spare, almost terse, and highly instructive of the period. Analysis waiting for lefty 1935 clifford odets 19061963. 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. His first play, waiting for lefty 1935, an agitprop play about strikers, was an enormous success. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of waiting for lefty by clifford odets. When they did, the company found its voice and odets found his home. Dps offers an extensive list of titles that includes many of the most significant plays of the past century. It tells the story of 56 men who create a union meeting that was meant to bring together workers who were getting underpaid. From january 1935 odets socially relevant dramas were extremely influential. After working as an actor for several years in new york citys avantgarde, leftwing group theatre repertory company, clifford odets produced his first play, waiting for lefty, in 1935. Clifford odets 19060718 19630818 was an american playwright, screenwriter and film director. Seattles production of waiting for lefty in 1936 by selena voelker.