Stage Banter: The Arena Stage Blog

Citizen Review: The Arthur Miller Festival

posted by Susan Williams

In this election year, we hear so much rhetoric about the economy, immigration and the middle class, that the issues are much on our minds. It's not surprising, then, that I saw much about these subjects in both of these plays. And I thought, as I always do when viewing or reading the classics, that some things never change...certainly, human beings don't change very much. We see in both plays the plight of working class Americans, the struggle to move up in society, and in A View from the Bridge the hardships of illegal but hard working immigrants.

In addition, both families are dysfunctional and composed of highly complex characters. I was impressed with all of the acting, but particularly Rick Foucheux as Willy Loman and Delaney Williams as Eddie Carbone. They each manage to express the nuances of their characters, which is not easy. Particularly so for Eddie, since he remains firmly in denial about his illicit feelings of love/lust for his niece. And of course, Willy Loman is over 60 and over the hill...not a modern concept, but it was certainly acceptable in the 1940's. 

The evening I attended A View from the Bridge I sat near a group of high school students and their teachers who were visiting DC from North Carolina. I could tell from their comments that they were quite taken with the play, and they definitely "got it". It occurred to me that when this play was first produced, it would not have been considered an appropriate play to take high school kids to. I think it's a good thing that kids in 2008 are a lot more savvy,and are able to discuss even the darkest motives of such characters as Eddie Carbone.

Audio & Video Previews: Arthur Miller Festival

If you'd like a preview of A View from the Bridge, don't miss this audio slide show from The New York Times. It features production shots and readings from Delaney Williams (from HBO's "The Wire") and Virginia Kull.

Check out our video trailer for both Death of a Salesman and A View from the Bridge below.

Notes from John: An Evening Arena Stage Theater Experience

John Layman is a co-sponsor of Death of a Salesman and as a benefit of sponsorship he was able to attend the rehearsal process for both productions in the Miller Repertory.

posted by John Layman

Dear Theaterophiles,
Last evening I attended the first preview week presentation of A View from the Bridge, a wonderful evening of seeing for the first time the whole play after seeing non-sequential excerpts in rehearsal. It was a powerful performance with the same actors that I have gotten to know from Death of a Salesman. To top it off, when I got to the Metro platform after the performance for my train to College Park, Jeremy Holm who plays Biff, Tim Getman who plays Hap, and Louis Cancelmi who plays Bernard, all in Death of a Salesman arrived and we had plenty of time to discuss all things theater. I told Jeremy that I had seen him in the Shakespeare Theatre production of Cyrano. He said that he had done Cyrano on additional occasions since then. He went on to talk of his wife’s involvement in the arts and her present contracts and Jeremy indicated that he was seeking a summer play so they could sublet their New York apartment to control living costs. This little aside is not to brag, but to indicate how lucky I am to have made friends among this fine group of actors and to gain insights few have had access to. Nancy Robinette came into the lobby with her son from New York. She plays a wonderful Linda in Death but only a small part in View. Her son and I had a couple of chats as our paths crossed in the lobby. He was there to celebrate his mother’s birthday.

Join us! Free open rehearsal of Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge"

Arena Stage invites you to be part of the audience for the final dress rehearsal of Miller's A View from the Bridge directed by Daniel Aukin. This is your chance to get a sneak preview of the show that is playing in repertory with Miller's Death of a Salesman—for free! 

Theater is never more “live” than at the final dress rehearsal—the first time the actors run through the full show with an audience. The audience is “the last actor cast” in any production, and we hope you’ll take on that role for us throughout the season.

Details:
A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller
Arena Stage in Crystal City
Thursday, March 20
8:00 p.m.
Free, no reservations necessary
First Come/First Served
Click here for Directions to Crystal City

Death of a Salesman: Biff's Blog - Days 11-20

posted by Jeremy Holm

March 9, 2008
On stage today for the first time. It feels great to be in our new home here in Crystal City. The set gives a real sense of period and of time wearing down on this family. There is more space here, or at least we feel freer to use the space we have, space which was taped out in the room, but which we did not use because of the closeness of the tables and chairs in the rehearsal space. The acoustics are completely unknown since no plays have been performed here as yet. So this is a great deal of new ground for all of us. The sound and lights were beginning to be added today, a very exciting time for us. Many of our entrances have different timing of course and most of our positions in the space needed to be adjusted. We ran out of time towards the end of the day and could not finish the play. In this rep situation it is very important to go through all of the adjustments in the imagination, or on paper in order that during the few days away from the work one remembers all of the changes. The first scene was much better today and is starting to get clear. I'm starting to think inside the character.

Arthur Miller's Remarks on today's American Theater

posted by Vijay Mathew

Here's an excerpt of Arthur Miller being interviewed by Charlie Rose in 1992. Miller gives his opinion of what defines and distinguishes "giant" playwrights from the others and why the current situation in American theater can no longer support new, great playwrights.

Do you agree with his definition of a great playwright and with his view on today's theater culture? Post your comments here.

Arthur Miller Festival: Inside Rehearsal

posted by Jamieson Baker (directing intern for the Arthur Miller Festival)

These pictures are from the original Broadway productions of Death of a Salesman (1949) and A View from the Bridge (1955). Now that rehearsals are under way for both productions in the Miller Festival, the actors, directors and creative team are discovering new ideas about bringing the plays to life.

Director Daniel Aukin began the first rehearsal for A View from the Bridge by sharing some of his ideas about the play. On one level, the play was Miller's response to the film On the Waterfront, which was directed by his longtime collaborator, Elia Kazan. Kazan had directed the original Broadway production of Death of a Salesman, and Miller later approached Kazan with a screenplay for a film that dealt with the experiences of longshoremen in Brooklyn called The Hook. Miller and Kazan parted ways after Miller criticized Kazan's decision to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and in 1954 Kazan made On the Waterfront, which starred Marlon Brando as a heroic longshoreman who informs on the mob. The film also starred Lee J. Cobb, who originated the role of Willy Loman. This is the film's original trailer:

Death of a Salesman: Biff's Blog - Days 8, 9, 10

posted by Jeremy Holm

February 9, 2008
Today was a difficult day....I'm getting this bug that is going around and it really messed with my concentration. I felt okay this morning, we did movement work with David Leong, and then went to our secondary space to rehearse (View had the primary space today) and as the day went along I was taken over by this flu stuff. We ran the scene a few times and fine tuned some movement issues. These discoveries about Willy's will to do are huge and drive the rest of the play. Hap is in denial. Biff can no longer just think of himself and what he needs, and Linda must finally ask for help and tell the naked truth to her sons. A great scene, nowhere to hide here, it is all out on the table. 

February 8, 2008
More work today on the bedroom scene and the first flashback scene. Rick Foucheaux is amazing to watch work. He is in every scene and is always prepared and always drives what he is doing so well. This is a great learning experience for me, to watch a master at his craft move through this process. A light day for me, time to learn lines and work on scenes with Hap.

February 7, 2008
Good progress on detailing the bedroom scene today. More clues unraveling about the entire play. Like most plays the first scene is always the most difficult because so much must be established, both for ourselves and for the audience. There are many discoveries which the audience never knows about directly, but which the actor uses to feed the soul of a play. For me my thoughts, memories and feeling about objects like the football, the trophy, the collection of memories is useful both to tell the story but to feed me for the events that will take place later. Tim Bond is great at identifying when something needs a move or an adjustment of some kind.

Death of a Salesman - Biff's Blog: Day 7

posted by Jeremy Holm

February 7, 2008
It was great to see Tim Bond again as he was away for the past few days while we rehearsed A View from the Bridge. We blocked the remainder of the play today and struggled for a good deal of the time, occasionally unearthing a good beat of work. I was not as prepared as I would like to have been. Toward the end of the day we ran the last scene a third time and found that it had some really good listening going on. Every play requires listening, but this play is impossible to do truthfully without good listening in every single moment. It occurs to me how much trust is needed for good art to be made. All of us bring in our own way of working and all of us must adjust to every other artist's way of working. We must then begin to find a way to create a new way of working together. I think that our team is on the verge of doing just that. There is too the very good feeling of having finished blocking the play and knowing now, a lot more about what we don't know, as well as having planted some anchors in the text. wonder blame freedom dreams whispers

Arthur Miller Visits Arena Stage

posted by Vijay Mathew

The first time Arena Stage produced Death of a Salesman was in 1974 at which time Arthur Miller visited the cast and crew backstage of the Fichandler. The production was directed by Zelda Fichandler with Robert Prosky as Willy Loman and Dorothea Hammond as Linda. Ms. Hammond was also in Arena's 1956 American premiere of Miller's A View from the Bridge as Beatrice.