Studying Death of a Salesman (1)

As part of writing The Room, a play on housemaid abuse, I study iconic plays.  I had the pleasure and privilege of studying drama and comedy, along with poetry and Shakespeare, for a year each at Northwestern University.  So we read the likes of Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot), Jean-Paul Sartre (No Exit), and Joe Orton (What the Butler Saw).  I've watched film adaptations and stage productions of these plays over the past two years.

But what else? 

Enter: John Moore and The Denver Post, who surveyed 177 people centered on theater, in order to come up with The 10 most important American plays:

So I begin with the cream that rose to the top.

This storied Arthur Miller story seems to have escaped my curricula at the university, but no matter it is easy enough to find it and research it.  So I watched this production by the Bronx High School of Science: Act One - Death of Salesman and Act Two - Death of a Salesman.  It's a fine effort by these students, but it's a performance meant for their learning and development, if the cast and crew have serious designs on a career in theater.  We as the audience must be forbearing, then, of a less than compelling performance.  Still, I managed to appreciate how the director worked the staging and how the actors navigated their space. 

Then, I found this complete audio recording:

The YouTuber offered no description, cast or credit, but I believe it was the 2012 revival directed by Mike Nichols.  It starred the ubiquitous (now late) Philip Seymour Hoffman as Willy, Linda Emond as his wife Linda, and Andrew Garfield (aka Spider Man) as his son Biff.  This is what the Bronx High School can aspire to, as immediately the tone, import and mood of this staging come through in mighty, polished measures.  Here, also is the PDF of Death of a Salesman.