There’s not much of a track record in recent history of truly conservative plays. From the 20th century on, theatre has shown up far more often in opposition to the policies of governments. Fugard, Havel, Brecht were all more interested in challenging the status quo than supporting it. Even great American playwrights like Miller, Williams and Shepard—generally not thought of as political—come down on the side of individual iconoclasts rather than society’s norms and rules. I have even had arguments about what a conservative play would look like.

Clifford Odets is enjoying a bit of a renaissance of his work as the most recognizable of the Depression-era playwrights. While there are certainly similarities between the Great Depression and the so-called Great Recession that we are presently living through, there are also significant differences. For one thing, the level of support for strong intervention by the government had far stronger support then it does now. And ironically, there’s little doubt that the worst of the present economic crisis has been mitigated by the social safety net put in place during the last crisis of this magnitude.