About the Play:

Waiting for Lefty was one of Royal National Theatre of Britain's top 100 plays of the 20th century.

Waiting for Lefty has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Male Monologues and Female/Male Scenes.

Waiting for Lefty is a full-length drama by Clifford Odets, based on a real 1934 strike of unionized New York cabdrivers. The story of a meeting of a New York cab driver's union on the verge of a strike. A corrupt union leader arrogantly tries to discourage the members from walking out, support for a strike is high, and the workers nervously await the arrival of the leader of the strike faction, Lefty Costello. As they wait, members of the strike committee address the workers, each telling the story of how he came to be involved in the union and convinced of the necessity for a strike.

Waiting for Lefty is one of the most celebrated and significant plays of the modern American theatre. The action of the play is comprised of a series of varied, imaginatively conceived episodes, which blend into a powerful and stirring mosaic. 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 (who are waiting for their leader, Lefty, to arrive) not to strike. This is followed by a moving confrontation between a discouraged taxi driver, who cannot earn enough to live on, and his angry wife, who wants him to show some backbone and stand up to his employer; a revealing scene between a scheming boss and the young worker who refuses to spy on his fellow employees; a sad/funny episode centering on a young cabbie and his would-be bride, who lack the wherewithal to get married; a disturbing scene involving a senior doctor and the underpaid young intern (a labour activist) whom the doctor has been ordered to discharge; and, finally, a return to the union hall where the workers, learning that Lefty has been gunned down by the powers-that-be, resolve at last to stand up for their rights and to strike – and to stay off their jobs until their grievances are finally heard and acted upon by those who have so cynically exploited and misused them. Set in the Depression era and dealing with the cynical exploitation of the working classes, the first produced work by the eager young playwright, became both a symbol of its times and a beacon for many soon-to-be-famous playwrights who came under its influence. The play's simple staging and powerful message have made it a popular production in theatre houses ever since its opening.

Waiting for Lefty was first presented in 1935 by the famous Group Theatre at the former Civic Repertory Theatre on Fourteenth Street in New York City. The play was directed by Sanford Meisner with a cast that featured now legendary names like Lee J. Cobb, John Garfield, and Elia Kazan as well as Clifford Odets himself. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is regularly performed in regional, high school, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 2 female, 13 male

About the Playwright:

Clifford Odets (1906-1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. Known primarily as one of the great American playwrights, he also wrote or co-wrote 18 movies for film and television. He came from an Eastern European, Jewish immigrant background. Raised in New York City, he became one of the original acting members of the prestigious The Group Theater, which was committed to producing realistic, contemporary American plays for American audiences and it achieved the goal – 20 new American scripts produced in the Group's 10-year existence.