LA Weekly
Recommended
Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
Considering the malicious anti-labor agenda of
the Bush administration and the current economic climate, there is
much that is timely — and
depressingly familiar — about Clifford Odets’ incendiary pro-union
drama. At a post-Depression NYC union hall (Barbara-Julie Miller’s
functional, dreary mockup), a contingent of cab drivers is vociferously
debating the merits of a strike, a move its pompous, apple-polishing secretary
Fatt (Dana Craig) vehemently opposes. In this charged setting are interwoven
vignettes about a desperate cabby and his wife (Jon Cellini and Carolyn
Barnes); a doctor (John Worsham) disaffected by class hierarchy in the
medical profession; an idealist (Michael Strickland) who refuses to sell
out to corporate interest; and a couple (Dawn Cochran and Scott Donovan)
whose plans for the future are crushed by destitution. It’s these
small stories that provide much of the play’s emotional breadth,
as well as the vivid depiction of the meanness of the times. With a sharp
sense for the theatrical, director Stuart Rogers has given this one-act
a robust staging, augmented by some fine ensemble work. Zale Morris’ costumes
are impeccable.
