Death of a Salesman

Synopsis

Veteran salesman Willy Loman is used to spending his life 'riding on a smile and a shoeshine', but recently things haven't been so good. He seems to have lost his golden touch; his grown-up sons, Biff and Happy, no longer idolise him as they used to and he is haunted by missed opportunities and a trouble past. His wife Linda is struggling to aid her increasingly disturbed husband, as she tries to hold the family together and keep Willy from descending further into desperation. But as the truth of Willy and his sons' imperfect past begins to unravel, Willy starts to lose faith in the two things he believes in: his family, and, in Miller's words, his need 'to leave a thumbprint somewhere on the world'. Death of a Salesman burst upon the international scene in 1949 and won the Drama Critics' Circle Award, the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize, becoming a benchmark for modern theatre.

Our Review:

6 November 2008

There are times in York Theatre Royal’s production of Death of a Salesman when the conviction that this is the greatest of 20th century American plays is overwhelming – and what British plays can compete? Unfortunately Damian Cruden’s intelligent and workmanlike production lacks the consistency of inspiration of Arthur Miller’s text.

The production begins with a striking image, the salesman, weighed down with suitcases, standing slumped before a billboard that offers the freedom and optimism of the American Dream. The first act consists of Miller’s superb dual exposition: Willie Loman’s progress to the brink of collapse is charted simultaneously in his current troubles and in the events of 17 years previously that undermined his fragile dream of family and success. The second half then plunges Willie and his sons into an agonising series of collisions with reality.

The production skilfully negotiates the scenes ...

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Latest User Review

Beryl Nairn - 12 November 2008:

Bravo! I really enjoyed Death of a Salesman at York Theatre Royal. I was lucky enough to hear Arthur Miller in conversation with Nicholas Hytner at the Y in New York in 1997. I knew, then, I was in the presence of genius and in this York production, Director, Damian Cruden, and his cast, have served both the man and his play superbly well. Cruden's production brought out all the contradictory and difficult issues within the play. Every note rang crystal clear through the actors' conversations. The pent-up frustration of Willy was palpable. Just as you thought you could feel some sympathy for him, he managed to swerve away with yet another explosive outburst at his wife. The terrible irony with the stockings was awful - shouting at her not to mend her stockings in front of him, while dishing them out by the boxful to his fancy lady. Brilliant timing too with the US elections just having taken place. Another chance to examine the American Dream. The opening image of Willy standing underneath that hording was just inspired and I loved the open plan set where everything was visible and there was no place to hide. Congratulations to everyone!...

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