Death of a Salesman

by Arthur Miller
directed by Claudia Wade
Thurs.-Sat., April 27-May 13, 7:30 p.m.
The Davies Foundation Auditorium
52 Church St., Kingston, ON

Left to right: Don Mitchell, Graham Banville, Lynn Fennell, Richard Palimaka, Anne-Marie Bergman, Gene Lee and Phyllis Scully.

Willy Loman, a salesman, returns home late at night from the business trip on which he set out that morning, having been unable to make the drive. Willy's wife Linda urges him to see his boss and ask to work in the city rather than having to travel to a distant territory.

Besides his career, Willy is worried about his sons—especially Biff, who has drifted since finishing high school and choosing not to go to college. Biff's troubles have something to do with what happened when he went to visit Willy in Boston years ago.

The next day, Willy sets out to see his boss, Howard, and Biff goes to visit a former employer with a business

"Arthur Miller has written a superb drama. From every point of view "Death of a Salesman," which was acted at the Morosco last evening, is rich and memorable drama. It is so simple in style and so inevitable in theme that it scarcely seems like a thing that has been written and acted. For Mr. Miller has looked with compassion into the hearts of some ordinary Americans and quietly transferred their hope and anguish to the theatre." - The New York Times, 1949

proposition Willy is convinced will turn Biff's life around. But Willy's dreams are mostly just that—dreams. Despite all the years he has worked for the same company, Willy is no longer valued, and can't pay his bills.

Left to right: Cindy Chappell, Graham Banville, Lynn Fennell and Don Mitchell.

Arthur Miller wrote the first act of Death of a Salesman in less than a day, completing the play within six weeks. It opened on Broadway February 10, 1949, following on the success of Miller's All My Sons. It ran for 742 performances, winning a Tony Award for Best Author, the New York Drama Circle Critics' Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama—the first play to win all three awards.

Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller was born in New York in 1915 and grew up there. While studying journalism at the University of Michigan, he wrote his first play, No Villain, which won the Avery Hopwood Award and led him to pursue playwriting.

His first commercially produced play, The Man Who Had All the Luck, won the Theatre Guild's National Award but got poor reviews and closed after four performances. Miller is said to have vowed to try one more time and find another line of work if his next play didn't do better. His next play was All My Sons, a Broadway success that won the Tony Award for Best Author.

Two years later Death of a Salesman premiered. Altogether Miller wrote more than 30 plays, among them The Crucible and A View From the Bridge. He died in Roxbury, Connecticut, in 2005.

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