Odets' stage directions call for the play to be performed on a bare stage, with some actors planted in the audience to react to key moments. The characters often directly address the audience, in an effort to break the fourth wall and incite the viewer to action. In each scene the other characters continue to be dimly present in a circle around the current characters, illustrating their effect on the events of the events unfolding before them. Odets claimed that he took this form from minstrel shows. Critics have suggested that it is more likely that Odets was inspired by agitprop productions. These were gaining popularity in the early 1930s.