Editing Waiting for Lefty (section)

==Productions==
Odets' stage directions call for the play to be performed on a bare stage, with some actors planted in the audience to react to key moments. The characters often directly address the audience, in an effort to break the [[fourth wall]] and incite the viewer to action. In each scene the other characters continue to be dimly present in a circle around the current characters, illustrating their effect on the events unfolding before them. Odets claimed that he took this form from [[minstrel shows]]. Critics have suggested that it is more likely that Odets was inspired by [[agitprop]] productions, which were gaining popularity in the early 1930s.<ref name=Weales/>

''Waiting For Lefty'' premiered on January 6, 1935, for an audience of 1,400 at the [[Civic Repertory Theatre]],<ref name="Chinoy">{{cite book |last=Chinoy |first=Helen Krich |editor1-last=Wilmeth |editor1-first=Don B. |editor2-last=Barranger |editor2-first=Milly S. |date=2013 |title=The Group Theatre: Passion, Politics, and Performance in the Depression Era |location=New York |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |pages=133–134 |isbn=978-1-137-29459-3}}</ref> at a benefit for ''[[New Theatre (magazine)|New Theatre]]'' magazine. The play cost about eight dollars to produce.<ref name=Brenman-Gibson/>{{rp|315}} The audience was greatly moved and met the play with acclaim; the cast that night took 28 curtain calls.<ref name=Shteir/>

The play opened on Broadway at the [[Longacre Theater]] on March 26, 1935, and continued for 144 performances.<ref>{{cite web |title=Waiting For Lefty |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/waiting-for-lefty-9728 |website=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=25 March 2017}}</ref> It was directed by Odets and [[Sanford Meisner]], and its cast included Odets, Meisner, Elia Kazan and [[Lee J. Cobb]].<ref name=Shteir/> It moved to the [[Belasco Theater]] in September of that year for 24 performances in repertoire with Odets's play ''[[Awake and Sing!]]'', where its cast included [[Luther Adler]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Waiting For Lefty |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/waiting-for-lefty-11980 |website=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=25 March 2017}}</ref>

Following the initial run, hundreds of theatre groups requested the rights to perform the piece.<ref name=Herr/> The play resonated with both the general public and the artistic community. Its simple staging allowed it to become an affordable and popular production for union halls and small theatres across the country.<ref name=Mendelsohn>{{citation |last=Mendelsohn |first=Michael J. |title=Clifford Odets: Humane Dramatist |publisher=Everett/Edwards Inc. |date=1969}}</ref> The play resulted in widespread praise and recognition for Odets. Such was Odets' fame that his next play to be produced, ''Awake and Sing!'', was billed as a piece "by the author of ''Waiting for Lefty'' ".<ref name=Herr/>

During the opening performance of ''Waiting for Lefty'' in [[Boston]] in 1935, four cast members were placed under arrest due to [[Banned in Boston|Boston's strict censorship laws]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Neil |title=Banned in Boston: The Watch and Ward Society?s Crusade against Books, Burlesque, and the Social Evil |url=https://archive.org/details/bannedi_mil_2010_00_3638 |url-access=registration |publisher=Beacon Press |date=October 13, 2010 |access-date=March 27, 2013 |isbn=978-0-8070-5113-9}}</ref>

''Waiting for Lefty'' had its British premiere in 1936 at the [[Unity Theatre, London|Unity Theatre]]. The production so impressed a visiting contingent of the American Group Theatre that they gave Unity Theatre the British rights to the play.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

In Australia, the [[New Theatre, Sydney|New Theatre]] in [[Sydney]]<ref name=20th>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206678291 |title=New Theatre proves that art IS a weapon |newspaper=[[Tribune (Australian newspaper)|Tribune]]  |volume=  |issue=746  |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=25 June 1952 |access-date=20 November 2022 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and [[Melbourne]]'s [[New Theatre, Melbourne|New Theatre]] both staged the play in 1936.<ref name=hist>{{cite web| url=https://collections.artscentremelbourne.com.au/#details=enarratives.1983| title= New Theatre: Company history| website= [[Arts Centre Melbourne]] | access-date=20 November 2022}}</ref>

In February and March 2013, a revival of the play was produced at the [[White Bear Theatre]] in [[Kennington]]. It was the first time in more than 30 years that the play had been performed in London.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}