Clifford Odets: Playwright by Gerald Weales (review)

212 MODERN DRAMA September Mr. Moore on another point; Hiro Ishibashi is not a man, but a most charming lady and scholar. ANDREW PARKIN University of British Columbia CLIFFORD ODETS: PLA.YWRIGHT, by Gerald Weales. New York: Pegasus (Bobbs-Merrill Co.), 1971. 205 pp. $6.95. Reading this interesting new study of Odets, one is frequently intrigued by the fresh insights of Weales-the-critic into the structure and possible interpretations of the Odets Canon_ So much so, that there is a temptation to suspect that inside this critic, at least, is a stage-director struggling to be set free. Whether Weales has the skill and experience to bring some of his ideas about such plays as Awake and Sing or Paradise Lost alive on stage is not of vital concern. If he does not, that would by no means invalidate them, for others-directors and actors, especially -will surely be able to understand what this book has to offer them and be able to translate insight into performance. It is merely that Weales has studied the Odets plays, all of them available to him, so carefully and with such attention to detail, that one would like to see his vision of a drama like Awake and Sing performed , and under his supervision. All too often, of course, concern with detail encourages a catalogue of minutiae, instead of a reasoned analysis. f'ortunately, Weales has not ignored the forest in which he has been tapping the sap of individual trees. Readers are introduced to the young Odets as an aspiring actor, before his talent for playwriting became apparent. His career is followed closely if briefly in biographical terms until the Group Theatre production of Waiting for Lefty. At this point, the emphasis shifts to an intensive analysis of the plays in chronological sequence. But-and this method serves both the functions of biography and play analysis equally wellWeales has left no footnote unturned to find relevant life-experiences of Odets and his associates which might shed light on characters, situations, or themes in the dramas. Occasionally, the breadth and quantity of research which Weales so easily assimilates into a few short paragraphs-in a book which is also short, if thoroughly to the point-threatens to overpower. The impression lurking behind the critical scene is that Weales would have liked to have written a larger, longer work that would have more room for inspection of Odets' life. Too often what is offered in this study are teasing references to events in his personal and professional experiences which are vital to the interpretation being developed. But, on the other hand, they arouse interest that cannot be satisfied in a work that has been commissioned and designed as one in a series on "American Authors." Definitive biography and extensive discussion seem outside the limits of this Pegasus line. For Awake and Sing, Weales has done a great service. Hopefully, some equally talented director will read his analysis and be fired with the desire to explore the wider ranges of possibility in this drama. Although Odets has been conveniently bracketed with American playwrights of social protest, Weales shows that Awake and Sing is hardly a native Lower Depths, or nothing more than a brilliantly realistic picture of little people, caught between the American Dream and the Great Depression. With the affection and appreciation of a man who goes to the theater as a lover as well as in the role of drama critic, Weales details the many theatrical touches which make Awake and Sing an eminently actable drama. He 1972 BOOK REVIEWS 213 notes that, despite the eye and ear for the substance of life as lived, Odets nonetheless based his characters on types and followed John Howard Lawson's lead in his use of dialogue, at once daring and subtle. These notes on the Odets plays illuminate even those which had neither the critical success nor the staying power of Awake and Sing. Curiously, when Weales has finished his analysis of some of the weaker works. they take on a new interest and attractiveness, though it would not be wise to revive them if one had to have this book in hand...