by Robert Falls, Artistic Director Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and director of ‘Death of a Salesman’
“I think Death of a Salesman is the great American play and this is a rare opportunity to see a cast that is about as fantastic as you can assemble for a play of this kind. Brian Dennehy, Clare Higgins, Douglas Henshall, Mark Bazely and a mixture of American and English actors grab this play by the throat and do a ban up job.
“The production was supervised by Arthur Miller personally, the last major production of his work that he got a chance to see (in an earlier incarnation first in Chicago and then on Broadway).
He was very involved in casting it and getting it to London, one of his favourite cities – a city that supported and loved his work throughout his career.
“I directed Arthur’s final play Finishing the Picture (Premiered in October 2004 in Chicago). It was like his Tempest or Winter’s Tale – a late play by a master bringing together a lot of themes and obsessions from his entire career. Even Though he was frail during the rehearsals, he exuded an almost child-like delight. It’s telling that he was a carpenter. His home was filled with furniture he had made himself, he even made the studio he worked in. He took the same pleasure in making plays as he did in making furniture. It was a you and privilege to work with him.
“We are fortunate that Arthur lived to 89 and was productive right up to the end. He left an extraordinary body of work, but Death of a Salesman is the play that he is – and should be – best known for. It was his masterpiece. In the same way that Hamlet or King Lear translates into every language and culture, Death of a Salesman is a play that’s produced every night, somewhere in the world.
“It seems so specifically American, a cautionary tale about a capitalist society, but it has extraordinary universal appeal. In every culture, it has something to say about human beings, their work und their relationship to society – and even more profoundly, it has something to say about family, about fathers and sons, mothers, brothers. Everybody that sees this play recognises something in it. Death of a Salesman is one of greatest plays every written in the English language. There aren’t that many that will stand the test of time… but this one will.”
from Theatregoer magazine June 2005