members feel as if they are part of the strike meeting. Ideally, they will also be swept up in the final call to "Strike!" and experience the excitement and power of collective participation.

Odets envisioned the work as "people's theatre," akin to folk art rather than Broadway glamour. He designed it to be adaptable for informal performances by small, nonprofessional groups. For several years, Waiting for Lefty was produced as a popular fundraiser by leftist political organizations and union factions across the country. For Odets and his colleagues, the success of their work was not measured by box office receipts or critical acclaim but by the number of people it inspired to join the struggle to transform society.

By 1935, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been the American president for three years, and his "New Deal" programs to stimulate the economy were beginning to take effect. Despite these encouraging signs, the New Deal, which introduced government-sponsored work programs to get people back to work, was highly controversial. Roosevelt's conservative critics labeled the program as communistic, while leftists felt it made too many concessions to the "evil" forces of capital.

The New Deal provided government backing to the industrial unionization movement, an area historically dominated by leftist organizers. Many saw promise in this surge of union activity, viewing it as the type of working-class, mass action championed by communism. However, several emerging industrial unions were marred by accusations of corruption, dictatorial leadership, connections to organized crime, and collusion with management to suppress worker demands and prevent strikes. To communists, such union corruption represented a betrayal of workers' aspirations, and the immoral "labor boss" was as much a foe of the people as the stereotypical "greedy industrialist." As the cab drivers in Waiting for Lefty discover, they cannot rely on leaders to deliver justice—not even a heroic communist martyr like Lefty. Workers must retain control of their movement and stand united to ensure their objectives are achieved.

During the Cold War years following World War II, many former Depression-era radicals faced persecution in an anti-communist backlash, exemplified by the notorious "witch hunts" led by Senator Joseph McCarthy and his allies in the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Those in the entertainment industry were especially at risk; in Hollywood, any past affiliation with a left-wing organization could lead to one's name appearing on a privately circulated "blacklist" as a supposed "security risk." Industry executives succumbed to right-wing pressure; being blacklisted rendered a person unemployable and potentially subject to a congressional investigation. Individuals associated with causes like the Group Theatre often had to choose between abandoning their careers or compromising their principles in an attempt to be removed from the list. Typically, they were required to swear a loyalty oath, renounce their past leftist connections, and provide testimony about their colleagues' activities.

Odets had been writing screenplays since 1941 and was summoned before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952. He testified about his actions in the 1930s, seemingly enough to satisfy the subcommittee and clear himself of further suspicion. Although he did not name anyone who had not already been identified to the committee, Odets later expressed feelings of guilt and "revulsion" regarding his testimony. It is said that he was haunted by the experience until his death in 1963, producing relatively little writing for stage or screen after his 1952 subcommittee appearance.

Staging

Odets specifies that Waiting for Lefty should be performed on "a bare stage." Regardless of whether the setting is a union hall, an office, or an apartment, there are no props to establish the scene. The entire stage, extending into the audience, serves as the strike meeting. For the "flashback" scenes that reveal the stories of various characters, simple lighting effects create small, intimate acting areas on stage. This type of stark, minimally defined staging is not unusual, and "minimalist" playwrights often use it for various artistic reasons. However, in the case of Waiting for Lefty, it is evident that Odets' intentions were not solely artistic. As an overtly propagandist piece of "proletarian theatre" (with "proletariat" referring to the lowest class in society), his play was designed not only for formal, professional theatres (which usually attract upper- and middle-class audiences) but for any group of workers, anywhere, who wanted to perform it. The simplified staging reflects practical considerations, making it possible to produce the play in any large meeting hall, inexpensively and with minimal technical expertise.

The absence of formal scenery also blurs the line between the stage and the audience space; effectively, the entire theatre transforms into the "union hall," making the audience feel part of the action. The rows of seated workers facing the speaker's platform extend into the rows of seated patrons watching the play, and remarks from the platform address both "audiences." Keller's climactic question, "Well, what's the answer?", is directed not at the workers but at the audience itself. The heckling "voices" of workers often come from actors seated within the audience, and when the "labor spy" in Scene IV is exposed, he escapes off the stage and down the center aisle. Such techniques are traditionally used to make the action more vivid and immediate for the audience, engaging them on a visceral, emotional level—these aims align with the play's crusading spirit. They also tend to blur the traditional boundary between drama and "real life"—sometimes unsettling theatre-goers who do not expect or appreciate the "invasion" of their space. Waiting for Lefty was not intended to be viewed with detachment, as an abstract literary piece, but to be experienced directly with the urgency of a real-life crisis.

None of the action occurs in a distinctly enclosed space. In the personal vignettes, a spotlit area loosely defines an apartment or office, but the "outside world" of the strike meeting constantly intrudes on these private scenes. Odets directs that the "workers" onstage remain visible at the edges of the light, milling about and often commenting directly on the action like a classical Greek chorus.

Above all, the villainous figure of Harry Fatt is never absent, looming over these small tragedies as an "ugly menace." The playwright suggests in his production notes, "Perhaps he puffs smoke into the spotted playing space; perhaps during the action of a playlet he might insolently walk in and around the unseeing players." The capitalist system he represents has brutalized each of the protagonists, but in the larger space of the strike meeting, their collective strength allows them to defy and ultimately defeat their oppressor.

The blurring of the stage/audience "boundary" encourages a similar response to the play itself, inviting the individual viewer to feel part of the collective "struggle" around them and connecting the dramatized strike within the theatre to the larger, real-life drama outside. In more ways than one, Odets intended Waiting for Lefty to be a play for the people.

1935: The United Automobile Workers (UAW) holds its inaugural convention in Detroit, Michigan. After a prolonged, contentious, and often violent conflict between union organizers and corporate management, highlighted by the famous "sit-down" strike at a General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan, one of the nation's largest and most significant industries becomes unionized.

Today: Once denounced as a subversive threat, the UAW stands as one of the country's largest trade unions. After World War II, the influential American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) (which included the UAW) expelled communists and their "sympathizers" from its leadership, reflecting the era's intense anticommunist sentiments. During the post-war economic boom, as auto sales consistently increased, the UAW adopted more collaborative approaches with management and negotiated contracts that ensured a high standard of living for a generation of autoworkers. This continued until the 1970s, when declining sales weakened the industry.

1935: An Iowa statistician named George Gallup establishes the American Institute of Public Opinion and devises a method to gauge reader reaction to newspaper stories. The "Gallup Poll" gives rise to a new industry focused on sampling and packaging public opinion.

Today: Polling has become an integral part of American life, with the computer revolution enabling "instant" surveys and the storage of vast amounts of data. Advanced statistical analyses are crucial in the decision-making processes of businesses ranging from television networks to diaper manufacturers. These businesses rely on polling not only to measure customer preferences but also to predict their responses to products still in development. The similar use of polling by media-savvy politicians and trial attorneys for jury selection has sparked significant controversy.

1935: On May 11, President Roosevelt establishes the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) to promote the spread of electricity to sparsely populated areas. At the time, only 10% of the thirty million Americans living in rural areas had access to electricity. The REA not only provides essential utilities to numerous homes but also creates many jobs for unemployed tradesmen and engineers.

Today: Almost the entire country has access to electricity. Within fifteen years of the REA's establishment, only 10% of U.S. farms remained without electricity. This access allows rural communities to benefit from the same technological advances as urban areas.

SOURCES

Atkinson, Brooks. Review of Waiting for Lefty in the New York Times, March 27, 1935.

Clurman, Harold. The Fervent Years: The Story of the Group Theatre and the Thirties, Knopf, 1945, reprinted by Harcourt, 1975.

FURTHER READING

Brenman-Gibson, Margaret. Clifford Odets, American Playwright: The Years from 1906 to 1940, Atheneum, 1982.
This book provides a comprehensive and meticulously researched overview of Odets's early career, with an in-depth look at his involvement with the Group Theatre.

Goldstein, Malcolm. The Political Stage: American Drama and Theatre of the Great Depression, Oxford, 1974.
Goldstein delivers a complete history of political drama during the Depression, including the Group Theatre and other similar organizations such as the Theatre Guild, Theatre Union, and the "Living Newspaper" productions of the Federal Theatre Project.

Goodman, Walter. The Committee: The Extraordinary Career of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1968.
Goodman provides an in-depth history of the Congressional committee that played a pivotal role in the Cold War anticommunist movement, detailing the testimonies of Odets and his contemporaries from the 1930s.

Mendelsohn, Michael J. Clifford Odets: Humanitarian Dramatist, Everett/Edwards, 1969.
Mendelsohn offers a succinct biography of the playwright, including critical analyses of each of his works.

Smiley, Sam. The Drama of Attack: Didactic Plays of the American Depression, University of Missouri Press, 1972.
This scholarly work provides a detailed analysis of various politically charged plays from the 1930s, featuring works by Odets, John Howard Lawson, George Sklar, Albert Maltz, Paul Perkins, and Elmer Rice.