Waiting for Lefty is a poetic and provocative piece of agitprop theatre written in 1935 when America was in the midst of the Great Depression and saw no light at the end of the tunnel. Pulsing with vigor and urgency, the play centers around a cab drivers’ union meeting, in which the drivers are fiercely debating strike action to get a living wage. The union meeting is punctured by four beautifully crafted scenes, in which the personal costs of capitalism on the ordinary man are laid bare.

Emerging from the global pandemic, the UK faces a deep recession that could rival the Great Depression. With unemployment expected to triple, like in 1935, we’re struggling to see the light. Against this backdrop, Lefty holds a spotlight up to our current society and challenges us to ask why, in 2021, is capitalism still inflicting such a high personal cost on the ordinary man?

 To really begin believing in something. Not to say, “What a world,” but to say, “Change the world!” 
– Dr. Benjamin, Waiting for Lefty

Transporting the play to 2021, the cab drivers find themselves having to conduct their union meeting on Zoom. You will become part of that meeting, making you a participant as well as an observer.

The other scenes will be streamed live on location. Using actors in bubbles, their homes become our sets. Working closely with our partners at East City Films, we have created a unique way of capturing and streaming the action live to Zoom.

A cross between theatre and fly-on-the-wall documentary, you will feel like you’re peering into the private lives of Odets’ characters.

Directed by Phil Cheadle, Designed by Simon Kenny, Sound Design by Joss Holden-Rea
Technical by East City Films

This was only made possible thanks to public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Waiting for Lefty feels as vital and important as it did in 1935. It speaks to our time. After each performance, audience members will have the chance to ask questions and discuss the issues raised by the play with an exciting panel of experts made up of: trade union representatives, journalists, academics and policy makers.

Each panel discussion will be moderated by Jacquelyn Landgraf

Tuesday 18th May

• Alex Andreou (Actor, journalist and co-host of Oh God What Now! podcast)
• Danisha Kazi (Senior Economist, Positive Money)
• James Farrar (Co-claimant in Uber BV vs Aslam)

Wednesday 19th May

• Miatta Fahnbulleh (Chief Executive, New Economics Foundation)
• Paul Fleming (Equity General Secretary)

Thursday 20th May

• Paddy Bettington (CLASS)
• Mathew Lawrence (Director, Common Wealth)
• Sarah Woolley (BFAWU General Secretary)

Friday 21st May

• Stella Creasy (Labour MP Walthamstow)
• Dr. Lucy Burke (Principal lecturer at MMU and UCU NEC representative for disabled members)
• Daniel Vockins (Executive Director, New Economy Organisers Network)

Saturday 22nd May

• Luke Hildyard (Director, High Pay Centre)
• Eve Livingston (Journalist & Writer)

Sunday 23rd May

• Alex Andreou (Actor, journalist and co-host of Oh God What Now! podcast)
• Yaseen Aslam (President of App Drivers and Couriers Union and co-claimant in Uber BV vs Aslam)
• Sarah Jaffe (Journalist and Author)

This show will have a limited run from May 18^th – May 23^rd @8pm, LIVE on Zoom.

Tickets are available from Eventbrite 

Doors open from: 7:15pm.
Curtain up: 8pm.
Waiting for Lefty running time: approx. 55 mins
Interval
Panel Discussion: 9:00pm
Tickets: All tickets are sold per device.
Tickets £22 per device, £11.50 for students,

*DISCOUNTED TICKETS FOR UNION MEMBERS*

We would like to engage union members from across the UK in this discussion. Therefore, we are reserving one third of all tickets at discounted rates for union members.

If you are a member of a union, email info@twolinesproductions.com stating your union and we’ll send you a promo code!

This event is not for profit. Any profit made will be donated to The Trussell Trust who support a nationwide network of food banks, provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, and campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.

COVID19 has seen more and more people being forced to use food banks because they cannot afford the basics in life. Last year, food banks in the Trussell Trusts network provided 1.6 million three-day emergency food parcels to people in crisis, with over 500,000 of these going to children. This was an increase of almost 20% on the previous year.

Two lines is a brand-new theatre company created by Phil Cheadle and Lisa Caruccio Came as a direct response to the pandemic and the increasingly fragmented world in which we are living. Through mixed media theatre productions, we aim to bring people together, inspire conversation and debate the most pressing issues of our time.

Why Online

Over the course of the last year we’ve seen many theatre companies pivot to producing online content and streaming productions, but often this work wasn’t actually presented live, and, as such, one of the unique elements of the theatrical experience was lost. We have put together Waiting for Lefty with the specific aim of creating urgent socially engaged work that has the live immersive quality of real theatre. Although the theatre world is thankfully beginning to reawaken, the online nature of the project will enable audience members from across the country and panellists from across the world to meet and contribute in a safe way that is still just not possible to do in person.

Why this play

Lisa discovered Clifford Odets in New York, and was drawn back to Waiting for Lefty time and again. A couple of years ago, she asked me if I thought the play was still relevant and I was struck with one thought: it’s shocking how far we haven’t come since 1935. In the very first scene, the character Joe demands strike action for a ‘living wage;’ a phrase depressingly still being campaigned for now. We became obsessed with trying to understand how a play written in the midst of the 1930’s Great Depression was still so painfully resonant. When COVID19 hit, Lefty took on an even greater significance with the pandemic fully exposing just how unequal our society is. On March 16th 2020, I started rehearsals for a year-long contract in the West End. That evening theatres closed. Suddenly, like everyone else in the industry, we were both bleakly unemployed. This was particularly difficult as we were expecting our first child. The endless daily lockdown walks, first with Lisa’s growing belly, and later pushing a pram, led to many discussions about Lefty. We kept coming back to it and felt passionately that it needed to be seen. Entering November’s lockdown and inspired by theatre’s determination to continue creating by shifting work online, we decided we should do it. The time is right for Lefty. Viewed through today’s lens, Odets’ play demands we ask vigorous questions of ourselves and society but above all it asks us to come together to find a better way forward. As we begin to gather ourselves after this awful year, we need to come together. We need to have conversations that aim for a better future. This play, seen in this way, will provide a space for us to do that.

 You can follow us on twitter and facebook: @twolinestheatre
We’d love to hear from you,

Phil Cheadle & Lisa Caruccio Came
Artistic Directors