Review: Bleak WAITING FOR LEFTY from Theatre9/12

Clifford Odets built a career off of writing dramas that dealt with class inequality and social injustice in the depression era. His first ever produced play, "Waiting for Lefty", certainly falls into that category. And while the current production from Theatre9/12 does manage some stirring performances, they can't escape the bleak nature of the play itself as Odets drives home over and over the inescapable nature of the era.

With a through line of the 1934 New York City taxi strike, Odets' play examines the lives of those affected by the potential strike. Through six vignettes he shows the events that lead the workers and their families to the meeting about the strike and a demand for better pay. Initially the audience finds itself in a meeting hall as part of the meeting surrounded by the cab drivers shouting their grievances at Mr. Fatt (Robert Alan Barnette) and his henchman (Michael C. Robinson) who stands silently next to him with a shotgun in case of trouble. As the meeting wears on the drivers one by one relay their stories. There's the husband and wife (Eric Olson and Kirsten Deane) who can't make ends meet, the lab assistant (Rachel D. Pate) who rejects her well paying job when her supervisor (Therese Diekhans) asks her to participate in a chemical warfare project, the young couple (Megan Becker and Chris Rodriguez) who are warned to break up by her brother (Brent Griffith) as the young man has no means to support them, and the surgeon (Simon Hamlin) who's let go from his position by his boss (Bill Ritchie) in favor of an incompetent surgeon who's the nephew of a senator.

The scenes themselves and the through line are stirring enough but there's no real plot to speak of other than, "do we strike or not?" Odets' play really just amounts to a series of woes and offers little break from the depressive tone of the evening. Yes, that was the era Odets was trying to convey and so in this respect he succeeded, but as a modern day source of entertainment, it falls flat.

Director Charles Waxberg does a fine job of keeping the pacing up for the most part although some moments and characters seemed to drag. But the assembled cast does have some outstanding moments where they shine. Olson and Deane's bitter argument was riveting and their desperation was palpable. And Pate and Diekhans are superb as they take on a scene normally played by men and deliver a stunning portrayal of a woman standing up for what she believes.

Maybe it was the constant misery of the piece that I didn't warm to or the lack of an engaging plot but, some wonderful performances aside, the show just didn't grab me. And so with my three letter rating system I give "Waiting for Lefty" a slightly moved MEH+. Yes, times were tough, but it ain't that bad anymore.

"Waiting for Lefty" from Theatre9/12 performs at Trinity Parish Church through February 20th. All tickets are pay what you can. For information visit them online at www.theatre912.com.

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