If you don't want to be left Waiting for Lefty, go see this show!

Since The Seeing Place Theater’s attitude towards the importance of ensemble and the craft of the actor’s art closely resembles that of The Group Theatre of the 1930’s, it only makes sense that they tackle some of the same material. When I found out that Seeing Place was planning a production of Clifford Odet’s Waiting For Lefty I was thrilled. How often does the opportunity arise to see an example of one of the greatest American playwright's work produced by a company that takes their work as seriously as this one does, and delivers results that prove how effective that work is?

Happily the production delivers on Artistic Director Brandon Walker’s promise to “explore this world to the best of our abilities,” as he states in his program note. He is referring to the ability of a group of passionate people coming together to create something worthwhile with extremely limited resources, and in this case they can count it a success. The play itself is sometimes a little clunky, showing it’s age a tiny bit in the roughness around the edges and the occasionally plodding pace, but the ensemble doesn’t let these things get them down. They tackle the story with energy and zeal, using Odet’s words like surgical tools to get to the heart of dissatisfied workers struggling in economic hard times. It’s an American story while not being the story of America, that this is a country where We the People can create a better State, a society that takes care of its own, something that we struggled with in the 1930’s, and that we continue to struggle with to this day.

The story was inspired by an actual event, the Pittsburgh taxi driver’s strike of 1930; Odet chose to set his tale in a union hall in New York City, circa 1935. The actor’s portray the cab drivers and their families, most of whom have converged on this place in anticipation of a decision by the union members to go on strike. In order to start the meeting and decision-making process, they find themselves “waiting for Lefty”, the Union spokesman. In Lefty’s absence, the union Secretary, Harry Fatt (portrayed chillingly by Tyler Moss), serves as a sort of anti-agitator, doing his best to convince everyone to just calm down and get back to work. The fact that he is backed up by an armed gunman does little to ease the tension of the situation. As the meeting unfolds, the various participants begin “flashing back” through a series of vignettes, to tell their particular stories of how they got to this moment. By the time the episodes have played out, the meeting participants make their decision, with a little help from an impassioned speech delivered by a man named Agate Kellor (David Arthur Bachrach) and the arrival of Lefty himself (the rarely seen Joseph Mancuso).

The ensemble does its job well, delivering solid performances all around. I was a little puzzled by the decision to cross-cast a particular role, which proved distracting while the actress was attempting to convince everyone that she and another man were brothers, but she did the best she could given the circumstances. In all other respects the directing of the show, the feel of the world created, were all authentic and genuine. In particular, the design of the show, credited to Lillian Wright, went a long way towards tying everything together.

This is a company to watch. Young, enthusiastic, these are talented men and women at the start of their trajectory, and if they can persevere for a little while yet, they will hit their stride and start producing work that is truly awe-inspiring. In the meantime, it’s exciting to see them lay the groundwork for this future through their dilligence and attention to detail.

The ensemble includes Joseph Mancuso as Lefty Costello, Tyler Moss as Harry Fatt, Greg Phelps as Grimes, Christopher Bischoff as Joe Mitchell, Steven Beckingham as Miller, John Gassale as Fayette, Brandon Walker as Sid Stein, Nick Velkov as Tom Clayton, Margret Avery as Clancy, Dothan Negrin as Phillips, Ned Lynch as Mr. Grady, Adam Rich as Dr. Benjamin, David Arthur Bachrach as Agate Keller, Jon Dalin as Reilly, Anna Marie Sell as Edna Mitchell, Norah Elise Johnson as Florrie, Jamie Watson as Irv, Bonnie Singer as the stenographer, and John Greenleaf as Dr. Barnes. The production was directed by Reesa Graham and Brandon Walker. Fights were choreographed by Steven Beckingham. The Designer was Lillian Wright.

The show runs through June 26, 2010, at the ATA Sargent Theater, 314 West 54^th Street, 4^th Floor. For tickets, visit www.brownpapertickets.com or call 1-800-838-3006, and be sure to visit www.seeingplacetheater.com.