The 1949 Pulitzer Prize-winner for drama, Death of a Salesman, now on stage at the Palm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach, brings to the forefront a tragic hero trying to lift his desperate family up from beneath a crushed American dream.
“It still is socially relevant, if not more so today than it was when it first came out,” said Bill Hayes, Palm Beach Dramaworks’ Producing Artistic Director and actor.
Hayes told WLRN the nonprofit theatre company extended the show dates to meet the popular demand.
Seventy-five years later, the universal themes surrounding this classic American play — the shortcomings of capitalism, failed ambitions, wasted opportunities, lies and deceit — still resonate with common people, it’s all “relatable,” Hayes said.
Written by Arthur Miller, one of the country’s greatest playwrights, the lead character, Willy Loman (Rob Donohoe), is an aging, depressed, and cash-strapped traveling salesman who’s lamenting the tail end of his career. He struggles to keep his broken home afloat for his supportive wife, Linda (Helena Ruoti), and two resentful adult sons, Biff (Michael Shenefelt) and Happy (Ty Fanning).
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In this production, Hayes plays Charley, Willy’s wealthy neighbor and close acquaintance who tries to help him with money and a job, but Willy’s pride, jealousy, and depression keeps Charley's support at bay.
“It forces us to hold up a mirror and say, how much have we grown or not in 70-plus years?” Hayes told WLRN. The show questions the “pursuit of what we often refer to as the American dream.”
Homeownership. Wealth. Success and material possessions.
“It’s my job to encourage dialogue,” Hayes said. “I'm really careful not to preach to the audience, not to tell them what to think, but to lay out what the issues are.”
Palm Beach DramaWorks' slogan is "theatre to think about.”
Directed by J. Barry Lewis, the play is part of the company’s series of contemporary and classical shows raising questions about the inner-workings of the country, emphasizing attention must be paid to people having difficulty surviving in it.
Linda, played by Ruoti, who is making her debut with the theater company, tries to keep her family intact and performs on stage a memorable monologue that encapsulates her husband's financial woes, which drove his suicidal ideations and actions — his disillusionment with his own life and marriage, because “a small man can be just as exhausted as a great man.”
“Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him,” Linda cries.
“So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person.”
It's one of the famous monologues in the play. "Death of a Salesman" scenes are captured by a staff of veteran designers and cast of experienced actors.
IF YOU GO
Death of a Salesman
Extended through Saturday, April 20
201 Clematis St, West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Scenic design: Anne Mundell
Costume design: Brian O’Keefe
Lighting design: Kirk Bookman
Sound design: Roger Arnold
Video design: Adam J. Thompson
Other Actors include: Nathalie Andrade, John Campagnuolo, William Hayes, Harrison Bryan, Gracie Winchester, Hannah Hayley, Matthew W. Korinko, and Tom Wahl
Visit Palm Beach Dramaworks for more information.
