The cast of DEATH OF A SALESMAN. Photo Credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
Powerful and emotionally raw, DEATH OF A SALESMAN is a haunting portrayal of one man’s unravelling under the weight of the failed American dream.
It’s been 75 years since Arthur Miller wrote his searing indictment of the American dream, and this current touring production of DEATH OF A SALESMAN has lost none of its sting.
We meet Willy Loman, a failing salesman clinging to past glories. He frequently relives better days, and convinces himself that he has the illusion of success. In reality, success has never visited the Loman household, aside from the distant achievements of his late brother Ben and his near-mythical diamond mines.
David Hayman is outstanding as Willy, a man desperately holding onto sanity by believing his own distorted version of events. This is especially poignant in his relationship with his son Biff, imbued with raw emotion by Daniel Cahill. Biff gradually comes to understand that his father lives in a world of falsehoods and exaggeration. Biff rejects that false world, one his brother, Happy, seems intent on continuing. Happy, a low-level clerk who dreams of power and respect, resorts to bribery just to appear successful in his father’s eyes. Michael Wallace plays him convincingly, bringing to life Linda Loman’s (Beth Marshall) scathing description of her son as a “bum”. Marshall gives a quietly powerful performance as Linda, the weary yet steadfast wife. She supports Willy but also sees clearly what their life has truly become.
The cast of DEATH OF A SALESMAN. Photo Credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
The performances across the Loman family are raw and intense. They skirt the edge of melodrama but instead draw the audience into a claustrophobic and desperate world with few redeeming features.
The supporting cast is equally important. Loman’s neighbours, Bernard (Gavin Jon Wright) and Charley (Benny Young), stand as stark contrasts. They represent a version of the American dream that has been realised with Charley running his own business and Bernard becoming a successful lawyer.
As the play unfolds, Willy starts to lose his grip on reality. Whether it’s the crushing weight of repeated failure or simply the inability to separate memory from truth, Hayman delivers powerful scenes as a man torn between the past and present.
The cast of DEATH OF A SALESMAN. Photo Credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
This innovative production by Trafalgar Theatre and Raaw Material adds further depth through its staging. Cast members sit around the edges of the stage, moving centre stage as needed, creating an intimacy to the production. Neil Haynes’ imaginative set design and Rory Beaton’s atmospheric lighting work hand-in-hand with director Andy Arnold’s vision to create a powerful and unsettling arena in which we witness the gradual collapse of an entire family.
DEATH OF A SALESMAN is not for the faint hearted. It’s raw, unflinching and deeply emotional, dealing with the darker corners of human experience. Willy Loman’s final act is a tragic conclusion to his long-held belief in the American dream, a dream revealed to be more of a nightmare of his own creation. As Charley tells him, “The only thing you’ve got in this world is what you can sell” and by the end, Willy Loman has nothing left to sell.
DEATH OF A SALESMAN runs at The Lowry, Salford, until 3 May 2025.
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