Showing at The Birmingham Rep this week is a new production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman by Trafalgar Theatre Productions and Raw Material. A scathing critique of the American dream, Miller’s masterpiece of American theatre seems as relevant now as it did in 1949. A talented ensemble of actors and musicians create a high-pressure portrait of a family in despair, where image is everything and being ‘well liked’ is the difference between prosperity and destitution.  

We meet hapless protagonist Willy Loman (David Hayman) towards the end of his career as a travelling salesman, driving endless, fruitless hours along the highways of East-Coast America. With little to show for a lifetime of hard work, and the pressure mounting to pay the spiraling monthly payments on the family's mortgage, household appliances and insurance, Loman begins to unravel.   

The story unfolds through a series of memories, dreams, imaginings and delusions. We meet Willy’s Family - his wife Linda (Beth Marshall), and children Biff (Daniel Cahill) and Happy (Micheal Wallace) - and see how they have been marred by Willy’s impossible aspiration to get ahead in the cut-throat world of midcentury capitalist America. Rory Beaton’s clever lighting design moves us through time and space beautifully and effortlessly, allowing the tragic story to unfold unencumbered by the ever-shifting timeline. 

The play reaches its crescendo as Willy descends further into desperation, and David Hayman’s heartrending portrayal is in turns deeply tragic and thoroughly compelling. He presents a world-weary man who is visibly weighed down by his failings, both infuriatingly flawed and profoundly sympathetic. Beth Marshall provides an excellent foil in her performance as Willy’s long-suffering but endlessly optimistic wife. Meanwhile, Daniel Cahill and Micheal Wallace strike the heart of the ‘all-American jock’ in their portrayals of Biff and Happy, with their hyper-masculine physicality and throw-away misogyny highlighting Willy’s own impotence.  

The supporting characters in the story are brought to life by a fantastic ensemble of actor-musicians. The wise and grounded Charley (Benny Young), the snivelling Barnard (Gavin John Wright), gut wrenchingly cruel Howard Wagner (Simon Donaldson) and delightfully demanding Woman in Boston (Charlene Boyd) are all brilliant.  

The writing is of its time and place, and the convincing performances immerse us in the world of the Loman family, but the aspirational anxieties which drive the plot are still starkly relevant. This production is a harsh reminder that the financial and social concerns Miller raised  continue to chime 75 years after its first performance.

Four Stars

Death of a Salesman was reviewed on Wednesday 12 March by Todd Jennings at the Birmingham Rep, where it shows until Saturday 15 March