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Waiting for Lefty
White Bear Theatre
21st February 2013

★★★☆☆

In this production of Clifford Odets' fiercely political 1935 piece, director Christopher Emms brings the action into the present day. Coming in the wake of the financial crisis, austerity measures, and scores of retailers heading into administration, it's easy to see why transplanting the piece to modern society seemed a logical choice.

Set within a union meeting which must decide whether or not the workers are to strike, the book weaves together a series of short vignettes which provide a larger context to the drama, as the bosses try to derail the meeting and the workers argue amongst themselves whilst waiting for the unseen Lefty. The union members are composed of the committee onstage and the audience, containing a few well-planted actors. Some of the crowd are given a union pin to wear on the way in, a neat touch which blurs the boundaries of audience and cast, reality and theatre.

And the intimacy of the setting - the tiny theatre space nestled at the back of the White Bear pub - certainly enhances the experience. It becomes a conclave of radical politics harking back to Odets' time, when union was considered a dirty word. How times change, eh? The minimal set design allows the focus to remain in on the action, with the haphazardly-pasted union posters creating an extremely realistic atmosphere. The audience take their seats against the backdrop of arguments and shouting between the members of the strike committee, establishing an atmosphere of tension from the outset.

The piece is frequently intense and at times uncomfortable, as it lies out the human cost of capitalism. Subtle it is not, stacking tales of heartbreak and misery, fraternal betrayal, anti-Semitism, and even corporate spying. Fayette (David Blackwell) neatly delivers the skewered heart of the piece, proclaiming: "If big business went sentimental over human life there wouldn't be big business of any sort!"

The small cast works hard, many taking on more than one role. But the stand-out performance is Holly McLay as Edna, by turns heartbroken by and simmering with rage against a system which has left her in a home without furniture and her children without food. We are also moved by lovers Florence (Kate Wyler) and Sid (Paul Harnett) who desperately want to get married, but are kept apart by poverty and circumstance. Odets is determined to create a sense of injustice, with the actors throwing themselves into his cause, all trying to elicit our sympathy.

The black-and-white nature of Odets' script depicts the workers as victims, their employers inhuman; there are no shades of grey here, which for me sadly works against the piece and tips it from a desperate, impassioned plea into pure propaganda - the staccato chant of the finale is literally played between bright light, then plunging darkness. While dramatically powerful, it certainly doesn't rally the more sophisticated audience into a self-righteous frenzy, no doubt the intent of Odets.

Despite the modern clothing the play still feels, in essence, a Depression piece, and when a camera phone is produced it feels distinctly jarring. Coupled with the proselytising, it fails to tug on the heartstrings in this more complacent time. The heavy-handedness of the source material lets it down in places, but overall, this is a thoughtfully staged piece.

Waiting for Lefty opened on 19th February and runs until 2nd March 2013.

Nearest tube station: Kennington (Northern)



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