Paradise Lost (play)
Paradise Lost is a drama by Clifford Odets that takes place in 1932, during the Depression. The play was originally produced on Broadway by the Group Theatre in 1935. It was also filmed for television broadcast in 1971. Plot summary The play takes place in an unnamed American city during the Depression, in 1932. The head of the family, Leo, and his wife Clara are middle-class and prosperous. However, over the course of the play Leo and his partner Sam lose their handbag business and the family must come to terms with this. The other characters in the play include a friend, Gus, and his daughter, Libby, a frivolous and self-centered young woman who is newly married to Leo's son Ben; a boarder, and an assortment of other characters. Odets said of Paradise Lost that he'd hoped that after people see it, "they're going to be glad they're alive". Production Directed by Harold Clurman, Paradise Lost premiered on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre in a Group Theatre production. It opened on December 9, 1935, and closed in February 1936 after 73 performances. Cast Stella Adler as Clara Gordon Morris Carnovsky as Leo Gordon Walter Coy as Ben Gordon Blanche Gladstone