In the excerpt below, Odets recalls the excitement and difficulties of his involvement with the Group Theatre and recounts the first performance of "Waiting for Lefty." This article was derived from an interview Odets gave in 1961, two years before his death.

In the following review of "Till the Day I Die" and "Waiting for Lefty, "Krutch states that with these plays "Mr. Odets has invented a form which turns out to be a very effective dramatic equivalent of soap-box oratory."

Vernon finds "Waiting for Lefty" energetically performed but expresses reservations about its political message.

In the following, the anonymous critic gives the dual bill of "Till the Day I Die" and "Waiting for Lefty" a favorable reception.

The pace [of "Waiting for Lefty"] is swift, the characterization is for the most part crisp, and the points are made, one after another, with bold simplicity. What Mr. Odets is trying to do could hardly be done more economically or effectively. Cold analysis, to be sure, clearly reveals the fact that such simplicity must be paid for at a certain price. The villains are mere caricatures and even the very human heroes occasionally freeze into stained-glass attitudes, as, for example, a certain l...