Expectations and unrealized dreams are disappointments that can shadow a world with gloom. Just ask Willy Loman, a sixty year old stockings salesman who considers himself hopelessly inadequate and a failure in life. In Arthur Miller’s Tony Award-winning and Pulitzer Prize-winning maserpiece “Death a Salesman” now gracing Hartford Stage until Sunday, March 29th we meet Willy and the Loman family as Willy struggles with his life in Brooklyn in 1949 and why he is so desperately unhappy. Despite the comfort and support of his loyal wife Linda, Willy can’t seem to overlook his troubles and find pleasure in his work or in his family.
Once upon a time Willy’s son Biff seemed to be on top of the world, poised for success as a high school football star but his big chance was lost and his opportunity to grab the gold ring on the merry-go-round was gone forever. Now Willy is struggling to travel for his sales job but his ambitions are going unrealized and he wants and needs to settle at a desk and quit the road work. He is sure his boss will grant his request, but he is devastated when he gets fired instead of being granted his wish. His worries for himself spill over to his ambitions for his sons Biff and Happy and color his dreams for their success. With unrealistic hopes for them. Willy compares them to the triumphs of his friend’s sons and finds himself wanting by comparison.
Biff has been out west, working outdoors, in an occupation Willy disapproves of, but Biff doesn’t see himself in business. Willy feels both boys have turned their backs on him and all Willy wants is for them to be “just a little boat looking for a little harbor,” finding a modicum of success to make Willy proud. Willy envies the achievements of his friends and longs to share in his own success. Desperately he wants good news, to have his life add up to something, because he feels more dead than alive. Linda fears he will do something terrible like kill himself. In flashbacks, we see how Willy sabotages himself with the wrong dreams, feeling if he is only well liked his problems will be over.
Peter Jacobson is strong in the role of Willy, a man who agonizes over what he cannot have, despite the love of Adrienne Krstansky as his wife Linda and the best efforts of his sons Biff, Samuel H. Levine, and Happy, Max Katz. He looks with envy at the choices of his brother Ben, Michael Cullen, who takes risks and adventures in his life choices. Director Melia Benussen helps Willy grab your soul and squeeze it with compassion. The excellent cast includes Stephen Cefalu, Jr., Nora Eschenhelmer, Paul Michael Valley, Rebecca Strimaitis and Patrick Zeller.
For tickets ($20 and up), call Hartford Stage , 50 Church Street, Hartford at 860-527-5151 or online at hartfordstage.org. Performances are Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Witness this American tragedy as Willy Loman struggles to overcome the disappointments that mark his failures and inability to realize his dreams when others so clearly achieve theirs.
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