THEATRE UNLEASHED RETURNS WITH "STILL WAITING FOR LEFTY"

(It's Been 76 Years And We're) Still Waiting for Lefty

Acclaimed playwright Gregory Crafts picks up where Clifford Odets’ masterpiece “Waiting for Lefty” left off, thrusting its commentary into modern times to show how little has changed in this charged new work debuting at Hollywood Fringe.

LOS ANGELES – The idea for award-winning playwright and producer Gregory Crafts and veteran actor/director Richard Piatt may have started in 2019, but the events of the past two years––political clashes, building racial tensions, a costly pandemic, etc.––cemented that now was the perfect time to take a new look at an old classic to see just how much of it still applies generations later, and how we’re still waiting…

Theatre Unleashed proudly presents its return to the stage with (It’s Been 76 Years and We’re) Still Waiting for Lefty making its world premiere this August at studio/stage as part of the 2021 Hollywood Fringe Festival.

It’s been seventy-six years since Clifford Odets’ groundbreaking play WAITING FOR LEFTY premiered in New York. Inspired by the New York Taxi Driver Strike of 1934, Odets took to the page to explore the ills of society at the time and use that platform to call for radical change. The show was a smash hit, becoming one of the most famous pieces of agitprop theatre of its day and launching Odets’ career to stratospheric heights. But in the time since then, what’s actually changed? Have things gotten better for us, or have they actually gotten worse? Using the original as a framework, “STILL WAITING" delves deep into the issues of today and confronts some hard-to-swallow realities.

The show marks the latest work from TU co-founder Crafts who has also penned local and national hits Friends Like These, Super Sidekick: The Musical and Tattered Capes. Crafts credits Piatt, a bi-coastal artist with 25 years in the field, with the idea of re-examining Odets’ work in the modern scope. The pair met at Director’s Lab West in 2019 and soon began laying the foundation.

“While we couldn’t mount this show last year for obvious reasons, I was able to draw a tremendous amount of inspiration from my feelings of helplessness and frustration as I could only sit in my 700-square-foot apartment and doomscroll while everything happened around me,” Crafts said. “This script is very much rooted that raw emotion, but also in media and technology, and how it’s been used to both improve our lives and undermine them.”

The cast of Still Waiting features a blend of Theatre Unleashed veterans and actors new to the company’s stage. For Artistic Director Jenn Scuderi Crafts, this show was the perfect fit to get TU “back into this changed world with a new sense of purpose.” For Piatt, the pairing and the timing couldn’t be better.

“I’ve long been interested in theatre that is both entertaining and socially relevant,” he said. “Having the chance to work with a playwright on a new work that is of the moment, one where the company shapes the work as we go, is a dream. I’m so happy that Greg and Theatre Unleashed agreed to collaborate on this project. All I can hope for is that our work inspires audience conversation that leads to reflection and action.” 

(It’s Been 76 Years and We’re) Still Waiting for Lefty
Written by Gregory Crafts
Directed by Richard Piatt
Produced by Theatre Unleashed

SYNOPSIS:
It’s been seventy-six years since Clifford Odets’ groundbreaking play WAITING FOR LEFTY premiered in New York. Inspired by the New York Taxi Driver Strike of 1934, Odets took to the page to explore the ills of society at the time and use that platform to call for radical change. The show was a smash hit, becoming one of the most famous pieces of agitprop theatre of its day and launching Odets’ career to stratospheric heights. But in the time since then, what’s actually changed? Have things gotten better for us, or have they actually gotten worse? Using the original as a framework, “STILL WAITING" delves deep into the issues of today and confronts some hard-to-swallow realities.

DATES AND TIMES:
Saturday, Aug. 7 – 4 p.m. (preview)
Thursday, Aug. 12 – 7 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 15 – 12 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 20 – 9 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 25 – 9 p.m.

*All performances are both live in person and available via streaming. For live performances, Theatre Unleashed will follow the most up-to-date L.A. County and CDC health and safety guidelines. Please check www.HollywoodFringe.org for the latest information.

LOCATION:
studio/stage
520 N. Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90004

PRICES:
$12.50 General Admission / $12.50 Online Access

FOR TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION:
https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/7146

PRESS CONTACT INFORMATION:
Jim Martyka
(818) 497-3701
[email protected]