Living for the Wrong Dream

The new Nancy Marine Studio Theater on Main Street in Torrington presented its debut performance, Arthur Miller’s classic play, "Death of a Salesman," last weekend. Which is an event. Along with Eugene O’Neill’s "Long Day’s Journey Into Night" (1956) and Tennessee Williams’ "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1947), "Salesman" is a major modern American tragedy.

The play premiered in New York, Feb. 10, 1949, and starred Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock. It opened to rave reviews and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play. The first to capture these three major awards, "Salesman" established Miller as an internationally known playwright.

"Death of a Salesman" takes a dim view of the American Dream — the pursuit of wealth and success, ethics be hanged. The play asks us to examine the cost of placing so much faith in this kind of dream.

Despite its setting in post-World War II America, the ethical dilemmas presented, quite radical for the time, ring true today.

The story centers on Willy Loman, a traveling salesman for 34 years. He lives with self-deception: He constantly reminds everyone how vital a salesman he is to the New England territory he serves, and how well-liked he is by everyone. (Being well-liked, Willy believes, is the road to success). But by his own lights, Willy is a failure. His bravado is an act; he knows he is not selling, and he cannot understand why happiness and success are not his.

Willy once cheated on his wife and lives in denial about it. He draws his wife, Linda, and son Happy into denying all these flaws and failures: Linda makes constant excuses for her husband, and Happy continually defends him. Willy’s son Biff, however, who once adored his father, learns of Willy’s betrayal, and comes to face some unpleasant realities.

In the end, Willy’s unrealized dreams of success (in the only way he is capable of measuring success — the "American" way) lead him to suicide.

At Willy’s funeral, no one outside the family is present, and he dies a neglected, pathetic, and forgotten man — a fear many of us harbor.

Les Ober’s direction and the solid performances by the cast capture the sadness of dreams crushed and attention denied. As the director notes, "Willy Loman becomes our ‘everyman’ because, like it or not, he represents us, with all our faults."

Jeff Savage, as Willy, summons the optimistic can-do spirit Willy must have to survive as a salesman, but he also portrays the fearful, confused, angry and disappointed man who can’t meet his own mark.

The supporting cast is fine. Sheila Lacey plays Willy’s sorrowing wife, her rage just below the surface. John Ozehoski is wonderful as the tormented Biff, showing, through flashbacks, his transformation from a popular high school athlete with a promising future to an aimless, unemployable 34-year-old man. Mark Sternlof captures Happy Loman’s easy manner with women, and plays him as an imperfect but sympathetic fellow. The rest of the cast adds a lot, especially Keith Martin as Charley, Willy’s money-lending friend, and Charley’s son Bernard, who goes from neighborhood annoyance to big-shot attorney.

On opening weekend, this director, cast and crew pulled together a fine performance of a complex, important American play. And pride in this lovely new theater and production was noted in everyone from the ushers up.

But the theater is not without flaws, the acoustics for one. It was hard, even from the third row, to hear the actors. And the chairs were uncomfortable for a three-and-a-half-hour play, though new seating is scheduled. The ladies room, though, which is large, with plenty of stalls and sinks, is lovely. That’s important!

Miller’s "Death of a Salesman" addresses loss of identity, unrealized dreams, and the inability to accept change. Today, nearly six decades later, it remains meaningful, a thrilling work that embodies a vital part of the American experience.

"Death of a Salesman" runs at the Nancy Marine Theatre in Torrington’s Warner Theatre complex on Main Street through March 9. For tickets, call 860-489-7180.