Two decades before Samuel Beckett wrote Waiting for Godot, Clifford Odets made his name with his debut play, Waiting for Lefty, another drama about disenchanted laborers longing to be rescued from their dire circumstances by a savior who never seems to arrive. Where Beckett was interested in philosophical questions that he posed with an absurdist bent rooted in the traditions of English music hall, Odets was a realist hoping to use theater to inspire the masses to rise up against the injustices thrust upon working class people at the height of the Depression.
And what better way to stir audiences than through song? In his directorial debut, actor Steven Pasquale has transformed Odets’ seven short dramatic sketches about struggling 1930s cab drivers into a full-fledged musical with a cast of 10 actor-musicians belting out classic protest songs of the era in between Odets’ original vignettes. The show opens with the antifascist Italian song “Bella Ciao” and includes folk standards such as “Bread and Roses” and “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime” — each accompanied by simple, stylized choreography by Susan Misner that evokes the work of Martha Graham and other modern dance innovators of the ’30s.
It’s a smart move, both because it draws out a one-act that would barely run an hour otherwise but also because it adds a layer of poetry and rhythm to Odets’ scenes that lean heavily into blunt agitprop. A union boss named Fatt (Greg Hildreth) labels any cabbie wanting to strike a “red” commie outsider, and later brings in a speaker from Philadelphia (Doireann Mac Mahon) who claims that a strike ruined that city’s workforce — before the speaker’s own brother identifies him as a company spy who travels the country trying to bust up unions.
We meet a handful of non-cabbies too, all trying to put up the good fight against indifferent industrialist overlords. A lab worker whose brother died in World War I (Austin Durant) turns down a giant raise and promotion because he won’t work for a scientist developing poison gas for the next foreign conflict — especially when he’s asked to report secretly on his boss’s progress. And a physician (Adam Kantor) suffers a rapid-fire series of setbacks: He’s been replaced on a surgery by the incompetent nephew of a senator, his hospital’s charity ward is being shuttered for financial reasons, and he’s fired despite his seniority and experience, for the simple reason that he’s Jewish.
There’s not much subtlety here: A mother of two (Tala Ashe) labels her hubby (Raffi Barsoumian) a “gutless piece of boloney” and threatens to dump him for an old admirer unless he goes on strike. But the outrages resonate 90 years after their first performance in part because so many of the issues still seem relevant: wealth inequality, antisemitism, corporate dirty tricks. Also, because the talented cast soon launches into a foot-stomping protest song (like Florence Reece’s 1931 rousing “Which Side Are You On?”) that puts a musical button on each scene along with an implicit call to action. “Oh, workers can you stand it / Oh, tell me how you can / Will you be a lousy scab / Or will you be a man?” The cast sounds terrific, and several play guitar, banjo and fiddle to accompany their stirring harmonies. Márion Talán de la Rosa’s period costumes and Mestly Couzin’s often-sepia-toned lighting contribute to the nostalgic feel of the piece.
When we finally do meet Lefty Costello (Zach McNally), in a dance sequence in which powerful forces are determined to literally hold him down, Odets’ message of salvation through collective action becomes even more clear. Pasquale keeps true to the stridency of the original while adding musical elements that soften its stark dichotomies. This revival captures both the spirit of its time while offering an urgent warning to modern audiences. We must stop complaining and waiting on an outside rescuer who may never arrive, Odets seems to say from a near-century ago. We must lift our own voices, and our own feet, to forge our own destinies. ★★★★☆
WAITING FOR LEFTY
Classic Stage Company, Off Broadway
Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes (no intermission)
Tickets on sale through November 22 for $66 to $236