The compelling thing about Sidney Brustein is that although political commitment is the overriding concern, by and large the play is not about political issues in the usual sense. It concerns a small group of rather ordinary people who face a variety of real problems in their lives…. Sidney, in the midst of this group, has more "social conscience" than any of them but is really not up to the role of ethical and political standard-bearer that he pretends. Until Iris leaves him, his awareness of social problems is limited to a sense of discomfort and disillusionment about the quality of urban life. He does not feel social problems as actually touching him, and he is not as yet, and has no reason to be, angry about the conditions of his life. (pp. 363-64)

The organization of the play is essentially the creation of a real world around...