Clifford Odets’ Waiting for Lefty

Clifford Odets' labor drama Waiting for Lefty, presented at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater of Classic Stage Company in New York. It is a stage drama with a political focus, not a musical or a comedy.

Waiting for Lefty is Clifford Odets'play from 1935, set during a union meeting of New York taxi drivers who must decide whether to strike. The evening is built around their wait for Lefty, the union leader who never arrives, and the debate among the drivers over whether to act. The drama rests on argument, pressure and rising tension rather than on spectacle.

This is a socially engaged American drama, suited to audiences interested in labor history and the American theater of the 1930s. The action unfolds through the characters'exchanges, so the performance is driven by dialogue and ensemble interaction from start to finish.

The production is staged at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater, the venue of Classic Stage Company, at 136 East 13th Street in Manhattan. The company's home on East 13th Street offers a theater setting for this stage drama.