It is almost impossible to discuss the work of Clifford Odets without spending some time focusing on his relationship to the Group Theatre, of which he was an original member, and on the broader genre of American political theatre that arose during the Great Depression. The Group Theatre was, as Gerald Weales suggests in his essay "The Group Theatre and its Plays," "a community of artists" and "the most successful failure in the history of American theatre." The Group Theatre lasted as an organization for ten years spanning the decade of the 1930s. During that time they produced seven of Odets's plays. Founded by George Clurman, Cheryl Crawford, and Lee Strasberg, the group also started or significantly directed the careers of actors, such as John Garfield, and directors, such as Elia Kazan, who would later go on to direct some of the most important films in...