The Hartford Stage production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is the reason you go to live theater. The Pulitzer Prize winning play is exceptionally powerful and emotionally devastating. The cast, led by Peter Jacobson as Willy Loman, is superb. Director Melia Bensussen stages the production with heartbreak and sadness. She brings a skillful spiritedness to the scenes focusing on the intimate, sobering family dynamics. Ms. Bensussen also effectively expands the spatial relationships within the show as the characters drift afar from the front of Scenic Designer Sara Brown’s steel skeletal set, adding a dreamlike element to the production. This makes sense since Miller’s original title for the play was The Inside of His Head, where past memories, mix with present day illusions. Matthew Richard’s pinpoint Lighting Design, many times bathing characters in harsh, white light, and Darron L West’s recognizable soundscape coupled with a dissonant piano backdrop, heighten the drama within the work.
Death of a Salesman first appeared on Broadway over 75 years ago, but the themes that pulsate throughout the play – pursuit of the American Dream, conflicts between father and sons, denial, among others – are just as current today.
The plot focuses on Willy Loman, a traveling salesman who has seen better days, both on the road, and with his wife and two sons. Slipping between reality and vivid hallucinations of his past, he believes ultimate success is just around the corner, all long supported by his loyal and protective wife, Linda. His two adult sons, mirror their father’s failures and disillusionments. Biff, in his youth, a charismatic, high school football star, is now adrift with no direction or life goals. Happy is a womanizer whose expectations of the real world are as unrealistic as those of his father.
As the play progresses, and Willy’s delusions and volatile behavior become more prevalent, his family life and professional career crumble, resulting in a harsh and blistering denouement.
Peter Jacobson's Willy Loman, exudes an intensity and cynicism that is heartbreaking to behold. He satisfyingly brings the audience along in his whirlwind of competing emotions and actions. As Linda Loman, Adriene Krstansky’s is solid as Willy’s unyielding wife. She adeptly portrays the many sides of the character - unflinchingly supportive and protective, fierce guardian of her husband, a meek and passive observer, but, in respect to her sons, an unbridled critic.
Samuel H. Levine’s portrayal of Biff is an adroit display of squandered dreams and self-loathing affectations. Max Katz finely imbues the character of Happy with the self-deluding demeanor and restlessness of his father.
The remainder of the featured cast is equally compelling in their roles. Michael Cullen is suitably unworldly as Willy’s ghostly brother Ben. Stephan Cefalu, Jr., morphs convincingly from a nerdy boyhood friend of Biff to a mature, self-confident family man and lawyer. Paul Michael Valley provides fine support as Charley, Willy’s only true friend. Nora Eschenheimer’s “Woman,” initially a flighty figure, provides a more shaded and darker brashness during the play’s penultimate moment.
Death of a Salesman, playing at Hartford Stage through March 29. Click here for dates, times, and ticket information.
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