WAITING FOR LEFTY
by Clifford Odets
produced in collaboration with the New Phoenix Theatre Company
January 10 - February 2
"A paean to the working class .
. . brilliantly acted and emotionally potent."
Three-and-a-Half
Stars!!!
-- Ted Hadley, BUFFALO NEWS 1/14/08
click
here to read this review
"[A] first rate
production . . . captivating, provocative, and enormously engaging."
-- Anthony Chase, ARTVOICE MAGAZINE 1/31/08
click
here to read this review
"A rousing
adventure . . . This whole production is an Agitation on the Body Politic --
an Exaltation of the American Labor Movement."
-- Willy Rogue Donaldson, NIGHT-LIFE MAGAZINE 1/21/08
click
here to read this review
"A beautifully
crafted play . . . a beautifully
constructed show . . . it is great theater."
-- Augustine Warner, ONLINE BUFFALO 1/19/08
click
here to read this review
To start off 2008, Subversive Theatre teamed up
with the New Phoenix Theatre to present one of the greatest theatrical
testaments to the struggles of working people of all time. Written in
1934, Clifford Odets' WAITING FOR LEFTY is an incredibly empowering one-act drama about everyday
workers who overcome fear, ignorance, and their own corrupt union
leadership to strike for a better life. Set amidst a New York City
taxicab drivers' union meeting during the plight of the Great Depression, workers
come forward to tell their personal stories of how they became involved
in the union movement . . . their stories are stunning, inspiring,
heart-wrenching, and
unforgettable.
Directed by Subversive Theatre's Founder and
Artistic Director Kurt Schneiderman*, our rendition of this working class
classic was performed at the New Phoenix Theatre with a massive cast of
twenty-four actors (click on the "About the Cast" heading in
the right column to read complete cast biographies) bringing to life the
passion of the times both on stage and off.
Everything was arranged to make audiences feel as
though they had literally walked into a union meeting in the Great
Depression. As patrons arrived, they were accosted at the door by
costumed thespians haranguing them to support the strike. Agitators
roamed the crowd distributing militant leaflets. Hobo-types loafed in
the back playing harmonicas and singing old union songs. A gruff union
functionary supplied a table crammed with coffee and donuts.
And when this union's corrupt Secretary -- one of the
play's central characters -- arrived, the hall broke into absolute bedlam as
different factions shouted and jeered, chanted and clapped. By the time
the first scripted lines of the play were uttered, the atmosphere of this
play's desperate and divided world had already come vividly to life.
This three-dimensional approach never let up.
Some actors remained seated amidst the audience throughout the play frequently
shouting, booing, or cheering in response to events on stage. At choice
moments action spilled over into the audience.
For the play's climactic ending, a massive brawl
broke loose involving performers at every corner of the theatre. The
character Agate Keller (played with indefatigable passion by troupe member
Bill Schmidt*) ran into the audience and jumped up on a chair to deliver the
play's most revolutionary invectives as other cast members surrounded him with
wild cries of support: "Hello America! We're
storm birds of the working class! Tear down the slaughter houses of our
old lives! Let freedom really ring!!!"
Our production of WAITING FOR LEFTY was a watershed event for our
relatively young troupe drawing massive audiences and garnering much critical
acclaim. We were honored to have the opportunity to bring this radical
pro-union piece to life with the support of some real-life unions -- the
Western New York Area Labor Federation and the Buffalo Teachers' Federation
were both sponsors of the production.
After one Saturday's performance we held a panel
discussion with once-blacklisted labor leader and playwright Emanuel Fried,
labor historian Alex Blair, and Teamster Business Agent Richard Lipsitz,
Jr. This event drew a standing-room-only crowd and gave rise to a vital
discussion on the situation of unions in modern-day America.
All of this illustrated in practice the central
philosophy that Subversive Theatre has always preached -- that art can (and
SHOULD) be much more than passive entertainment -- it can be an empowering
event that inspires people to take on real issues that effect our everyday
lives!
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THE CAST
(in order of appearance)
Fatt/Fayette/Grady . Victor Morales
Gunman . . . . . . . . . . . Tom Scahill*
Joe . . . . . . . . . . Richard Lambert+
Edna . . . . . . . . . . . . Kate LoConti
Miller . . . . . . . Hasheen DeBerry*
Irv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James Wild
Florrie . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Brown
Sid . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeffrey Coyle
Clayton . . Leon S. Copeland, Jr.*
Clancy . . . . . . Marshall Maxwell*
Stenographer . . . . Jennifer Linch*
Phillips . . . . . . . . . . Rich Kraemer
Dr. Barnes . . . . . . . Keith Elkins*
Dr. Benjamin . M. Joseph Fratello
Agate Keller . . . . . . Bill Schmidt*
UNION MEMBERS:
(listed alphabetically)
Guy DeFedericis, Kevin Dennis,
Tom Izard, Stacy Kowal,
Joseph Laspro, Robb C. Nesbitt*,
Julie Oesch*, Jessica Stuber*,
Anthony Tyrpak*
THE CREW:
Director . . . . . . Kurt Schneiderman*
Stage Manager . . . Virginia Brannon*
Light Design . Carlie Todoro-Rickus*
Set Designer . . . . . Dyan O'Connell*
Costume Designer . . . . . Kate Palame
Graphic Designer . Michael D. Klemm
Fight Choreogrph . M Joseph Fratello
Props Mistress . . . Virginia Brannon*
House Mngr Jeanette Schneiderman*
House Manager . . . Michael Fanelli* |
Our production of WAITING FOR LEFTY
was sponsored by the Western New
York Area Labor Federation, Frank J. Dolce, Esq., and the Buffalo
Teachers Federation. Special thanks for support for this
production also goes out to Dr. Emanuel Fried, Andrea Kwiatkowski, Patricia
DeVinney, the El Buen Amigo Latin American Cultural Association, the Buffalo
Federal Credit Union, Generations Antiques & Collectibles, Tops
Friendly Markets, Inc., and Allentown Music.
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