Playwright: Clifford Odets. At: American Blues Theater at the Biograph, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. Phone: 773-871-3000; $25. Runs through: Oct. 2
We are at a union meeting, ostensibly of the New York City taxicab drivers, circa 1935. The gathering of the employed and formerly employed are drawn from a variety of occupations, and as they wait for their tardy chairmanthe "Lefty" of the titlewe hear their reasons for being there: the sweethearts who postpone marriage and family for want of a secure future. The husband whose wife upbraids him for their hungry children. The Jewish surgeon fired from her hospital job, replaced by an incompetent (but well-connected) quack. The lab assistant offered lucrative benefits in exchange for working on biological weaponsand informing on her supervisor. The actor whose regional experience (including Chicago's Goodman Theatre) can't land him a role on Broadway ("Even Jesus Christ couldn't play [this part]with all his talent," grumbles the producer).
With such a record of injusticedid I mention the corporate-friendly union boss and the strike-breaking saboteur?is it any wonder that citizens on the verge of despair turn to the promise of Communism? If that threat seems as quaint in 2011 as catch-phrases like "coffee-and" or "stalled like a flivver in the snow," substitute the word "Socialism." See how familiar it suddenly sounds?
The American Blues Theater company is well-practiced in conveying the dignity inherent in plays celebrating the proletarian diversity of our nation's populace. Under Kimberly Senior's meticulous direction, the 25 actors immerse themselves in their disparate roles so wholly that even those stationed in the audience, as in the premiere production by the legendary Group Theatre, are distinguishable from playgoers only by their period clothing. The technical design is likewise first-rate, but Victoria DeIorio's stirring sound design is worthy of special note.
Don't fool yourself: This is not a docudrama, flaunting an academic veneer of "historical accuracy." Clifford Odets' approach to his material is undeniably romantic. In an age, however, when "truth" is the property of whomever has the most agile wordbenders on staff, sometimes a shot of old-fashioned agitprop is what's needed to cut through the persiflage. Opinions, goes the saying, are like armpits (or assholes, depending on who's listening) in that everybody's got one and the other guy's always stinks. American Blues' 60-minute symposium offers you an opportunity to make up your own mind, and isn't that a luxury nowadays?