LOGAN – The period drama Waiting for Lefty will debut on Friday, Oct. 13, a production by the Theatre Arts Department at Utah State University.
Written by Clifford Odets in 1935, Waiting for Lefty is a tale of labor unrest based on real events during the New York taxi strike of 1934, told in a series of vignettes.
The play galvanized audiences when it debuted, according to USU director Michael Shipley, because Odets’ characters were “ … working class New Yorkers who struggled with the same things the audience members did.”
At the height of the Great Depression, with million of Americans unemployed, Odets’ characters were the voices of the oppressed and his words still resonate in modern times.
Odets’ work not only became widely popular, but also changed the writing style of the American theater, which then began to focus on universal themes, lifelike characters and social issues in that troubled era.
“Since the Great Depression, our country has grown accustomed to unions going on strike,” explains USU dramaturg and intimacy director Jordan Lockwood.
“Our country may now be divided, but we can agree still agree on the importance of standing up for what we 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.”
Waiting for Lefty is composed of seven vignettes. The play opens during a meeting of the New York taxi drivers’ union on the verge of a strike. Although union leader Harry Fatt tries to dissuade the cabbies from striking, the mysterious absence of their elected chair Lefty Costello postpones any decision.
Five separate stories then unfold, illustrating the hardship and injustice that union members faced in that era.
Finally, the play returns to the union meeting that opened the show, followed by a shattering climax.
Odets’ stage directions call for the play to be performed on a bare stage, with some actors planted in the audience to react to key moments.
The characters in Waiting for Lefty often directly address the audience, in an effort to break the theatrical “fourth wall” and incite those viewers to action.
The cast of Waiting for Lefty will also feature talented actors who are familiar to local audiences from earlier USU and Lyric Repertory Company productions, including Sumner Jones Shoell, Ryan Adams, Mia Gatherum, Levi Hopkins and others.
Evening performances of Waiting for Lefty are slated at the Caine Lyric Theatre in downtown Logan at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 13, 14, 26, 27 and 28.
A matinee performance of the drama is also set for 1 p.m. on Oct. 14.