Review: In Death of a Salesman,' Arthur Miller words take on a new edge
'Early in "Death of a Salesman" it is late at night and an exhausted Willy Loman arrives
home having not made it to even one of his sales calls that day The end is nigh for Willy, that's clear
from the moment we see him shuffle in. Upstairs are his two sons, Biff and Happy, smoking
cigarettes together in the darkness of their shared childhood home, contemplating their lives They
are young men but not that young. Biff is 34. Happy, 32 - old enough to have shaken off any
residual arrested development that might have followed them out of their teens.
But here they si, in Biffs old bedroom, a couple of 30-something, middle class straight
white guys who have the privilege to look around and scoff at a world they think hasn't given them
enough opportunities - or rather, the night sort of opportunities, fulfilling opportunities. (It makes you
think this production might not be a bad pairing with "Straight White Men" by Young Jean Lee,
currently in a run at Steppenwolf.)
Sit's not that Biff and Happy arent allowed a measure of discontent in the privacy of this
moment. But as men, they are their own worst enemies. And only Biff ultimately comes to see this.
"In this 1949 drama, Arthur Miller managed to evoke both a compassion and a piercing
judgmental stare for these men, Willy included (played here by Brian Parry), and it might be one of
the most important reasons the play works such magic.
The lies in the Loman house - the delusions and exaggerations -- are many Linda (Jan
Ellen Graves), the all-seeing matriarch, is the key enabler, but make no mistake, she has come to
understand all too clearly. She just had the bad luck of hitching herself to the wrong guy (not that she
sees it that way Linda has her own delusions as well). She is surrounded by inward-looking men
who are never ever satisfied, searching for extemal validation and quick to lash out when
confronted with the reality of their mediocrity.
Sit's a funny thing, hearing the way some of Miller's dialogue is phrased. Willy has a way of
talking, a cadence there's no missing it, a certain boastful, outer-borough New York
distinctiveness to it that sounds very familiar to the news cycle these days, and I wasnt expecting it:
Toy got important contacts!" Willy says to his frenemy and next-door neighbor Charley
(Charley with a priceless, sarcastic response: "Glad to hear it, Willy ") 17 go to Hartford, I'm very
well-liked in Hartfordre or of his son, Biff: "He's got loads of personality, loads of it!"
The Loman men are con artists. Their primary mark? Themselves. Under the direction of
Steve Scott, Matt Edmonds' foundering Biff and Zach De Nardi's phony-baloney Happy really do
look and feel like restless brothers raised together in that home. (De Nardi is so good, you would
never know he was filling in for Benjamin Kirberger, who has been having some health issues but is
hoping to return to the production)
Something about the actual production design, though, doesn't quite work. It wisely avaids
momentum-killing set changes, but the physical world of the play feels like a whole lot of nothing.
which is a step down considering Redtwist has experimented with some incredible set designs in the
pest
Director Scott's production is really about the performances - small things. Ike the way
Parry's Willy, on his way to work, distractedly says, "Eh, goodbye, I'm late - and Scott also has a
couple of aces up his sleeve in the smaller roles of Charley (played by Adam Bitterman) and
Charley's son, Bernard, the bookworm-turned-hotshot lawyer (played by Devon J. Nimerfroh). The
way Nimerfroh finesses that late pivotal scene with Willy, when he delicately tries to get to the
bottom of the Loman family neurosis - it's just terrific, a wonderful bit of hesitancy and confidence
all of it coming through in his body language
But let's talk about Bitterman, because he is giving such a delicious scene-stealing
perfomance, with a perfect roughshod New York accent that I wanted to follow him off stage and
watch whatever play Charley should have been starring in When Wily finds out Bemard is arguing a
case before the Supreme Court, he says to Chaney, somewhat surprised "He didn't mention!
Charley's beautiful throwaway reply "He didn't hatta"
PAnd therein lies the difference A Loman would have been bragging about it all day.
Independent Assessment 2
L-KNOW-LYSIS: Refer to the play misiewe out he death of a Salesman on Independent Activity 2. Evaluate it using the given checklist below.
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1. is the sample play review interesting to
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2. Does the review include a brief summary
of the play?
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acting of the cast?
4. Does the play review mention the
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