[NEohioPAL] Review of "Death of a Salesman" at Lakeland Civic Theater

[Bob Abelman]

Bold staging helps Lakeland's 'Salesman' 

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the News-Herald 2/12/10

 

Sure, Arthur Miller's classic drama Death of a Salesman is about an aging, road-weary traveling salesman named Willy Loman who has lost his job, his self-worth and, consequently, his grip on reality.  And, yes, it offers commentary on traditional American values, the state of the family, and the heartbreaking ramifications of the mistakes we make and the paths we take.  

 

This is a marvelous story, but what makes Death of a Salesman such an enduring drama is that it is a masterful piece of storytelling. 

 

Miller brilliantly depicts Willy's steady decline into dementia as distortions in time, where Willy's mind involuntarily drifts back to moments in the past that are relived and reinvented while his weary body remains anchored to the present.  He interacts with his long dead older brother as well as younger, idealized versions of his wife, two sons and neighbors. 

 

To his credit, director Martin Friedman decided to key in on and accentuate these moments in his production at the Lakeland Civic Theatre.  The result is both intriguing and effective.

 

Friedman commissioned set designer Trad A. Burns to not only build a standard interior of the Loman home, where most of the play's action takes place, but to construct an omni-present, distorted mirror image attached to it.  It is here, within this incomplete, detail-less and increasingly shadowy parallel realm, that Willy's troubled mind takes refuge.   

 

To emphasize the significance and disturbance of these ephemeral moments, Friedman keeps Willy's wife, Linda, in the family kitchen during their occurrence rather than off stage as the script suggests.  Early in the play, she overhears Willy's interactions with manifestations from his past, which is heartbreaking.  Later, when the script calls for a young Linda to be a part of Willy's delusions, Friedman keeps Willy tethered to the real world by retaining old Linda, who participates in his dementia-driven conversations in order to soften his suffering.  It is only after Willy's condition progresses and he is less connected to the real world that a young Linda is introduced.

 

All this places an added burden on the actress playing older Linda.  Maryann Elder bears it beautifully.  She captures this woman's indomitable spirit and adoration for her husband, as well as the wear and tear of years of self-sacrifice, emotional duress and, now, her husband's demise.  

 

Mark Cipra offers a less abrasive, more worn-down Willy than is typically portrayed.  In doing so, he has created a more accessible and sympathetic character.  This seems to weaken Willy's power over his family, but it does render his emotional instability and his forays into flashback even more painful and pathetic.  Cipra is a master craftsman and an absolute pleasure to watch.

 

With Willy being a more sympathetic salesman, more responsibility for the family's dysfunction is placed on his sons.  Christopher Richards, as older Biff, and Joe Pine, as older Happy, respond accordingly, delivering honest and believable portrayals.  Richards' face-to-face confrontation with his father who, by that point, is lost in delusion, is one of the most moving moments of the evening.     

 

This production is not without flaws.  Performances offered by secondary characters are uneven, although Robert McCoy as Uncle Ben and Stuart Hoffman as Howard Wagner, Willy's young boss, nicely hold up their end.  The construction of parallel worlds proves to be occasionally problematic, for it truncates the Loman home, which impacts on the players' freedom of movement.  There is also an instance when older Biff and older Happy exit the stage by crossing into Willy's imagined world, which is awkward and downright confusing.

 

These are minor things, really.  Arthur Miller's 60-year-old play holds up beautifully and this Lakeland Community College production does it proud.

 

Death of a Salesman continues through February 21 (Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m., Sunday Matinees, 2 p.m.) at Lakeland Civic Theatre, 7700 Clocktower Drive, Kirtland.  For tickets, which range from $5 to $15, call 440-525-7526 or visit martinfriedman98 at yahoo.com

 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20100212/5357186f/attachment-0003.htm>