CMU School of Drama


Friday, September 12, 2008

Death of a Salesman

Pittsburgh City Paper - Pittsburgh: "One of the (many) remarkable things about Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is that each time I see it the play changes. This story about poor Willy Loman at the desolate end of his life, struggling to find out how he got there, began (60 years ago) as a powerful condemnation of the American Dream. As the years passed, it morphed into an equally powerful examination of the American Family. But who knew that Miller, way back in 1949, could predict the collapse of not just the American Dream, but America itself?"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the play is great and all, but even if a show is applicable to a wide range of current issues, I still feel that people could make bolder, more innovative choices. Maybe I'm just not riding the 'classic theater' kick at the moment, but I feel like I have been hearing about show that all fit this genre. I guess that why we have events like PIFOF, to balance out the canon of classics. blah blah blah...in retrospect I don't really have a point so I'll quit here.

AndrewLeitch said...

While these choices and comparisons seem rather obvious, and perhaps less interesting, I love how Miller's (and others') stuff can be a bit dated but also be so relevant at the same time. I designed for a production of Miller's ALL MY SONS in high-school, which still sits in my mind as one of my most favorite shows I've done. We updated it, designed it in an almost dreamy minimal environment and were able to focus on the issues rather than the scale of production. I really think it spoke to people in ways they weren't expecting from a "classic."

These little classic gems, I think, are worth doing because of how timeless they can be if done well. Not many people want to see a piece of really "dated" theatre when they could see something fresh and new. But, as artists we can bring the old and new together and create something worth watching. Maybe, just a little more innovative next time?