Issue 34 - Analysis and Exercise: Arthur Miller

Welcome!

This month we look at Death of A Salesman

In This Issue

• THEATREFOLK BLOG
  Theatrefolk talks.
• INTRO
  Researching and Reading.
• ARTHUR MILLER FACTS AND QUOTES
  A quick peek at the playwright.
• DEATH OF A SALESMAN
  An intro to the play.
• THEMES AND MOTIFS
  The American Dream, Reality vs Illusion and more!
• STRUCTURE AND LANGUAGE
  The backbone of this classic play.
• CHARACTERS
  The Lomans and their relationships in detail.
• CONFERENCE ALERT
  Meet us in person.
• IN THE NEXT ISSUE
  What you can expect next.
• STAY IN TOUCH
  Contact Info/Read Our Blog.

Theatrefolk Blog

Keep up with the comings and goings of Theatrefolk on our blog. We recently posted a great link to an entry about The Impact of a Drama teacher. Read all about it.

INTRO

I've been looking forward to revisiting Arthur Miller. It's been a long time since I've read his plays. I'm certainly aware of all the popular culture references, the line fragments ('Attention must be paid!'), the symbolism, the death of the American Dream in form and function. I've seen All My Sons (long, long ago) and have a vague memory of the Dustin Hoffman TV version of Death of A Salesman. I've never seen The Crucible, not even the Daniel Day Lewis (did you know he's related by marriage to Miller???) Winona Rider movie although, again, I have vague memories of a melodramatic Lewis mewling about his name.

It's been an interesting journey reading and re-reading The Big Three: Death of A Salesman, All My Sons and The Crucible. These are the plays everyone thinks about when they reference Miller, right? This time around I loved All My Sons and Death of a Salesman - The Crucible not so much. As a playwright, I marvel that Miller wrote Death of a Salesman when he was 32. I also think about the fact that Miller, while often called one of America's iconic playwrights, is not known for his plays written past 1953.

I spent a lot of time reading production reviews. It's amazing how many productions there are of these three plays at so many different levels. And it's sad how many armchair critics want to, well, criticize the plays. Really tear into them and tear Miller down. Crowing that he doesn't deserve to be iconic, and the plays don't deserve the pedestal on which they rest.

Without a doubt Death of a Salesman belongs on a top ten list of plays. It is theatrical, it has sweeping themes and moments of small quiet. It has heartbreak. It has characters in the throws of life and death. Characters in struggle. The past and present all rolled into one, side by side on stage as only theatre can do.

When I started work on this newsletter I was going to put all three plays within the same newsletter with exercises, questions, activities and so on. But that was slowly turning into a fifty page monster project which I know that no one wants to read and I certainly don't have the stamina to write! It truly solidifies how much 'meat' there are to these plays. There are so many layers, so much to bring into a character, so much to consider. Therefore, Miller will find his way into three newsletters over the next seven months:

• November will feature Death of A Salesman.
• February, 2009 will feature The Crucible.
• May, 2009 will feature All My Sons.

So curl up with a copy of Salesman and then curl up with this newsletter. (As much as one can curl up to a computer screen....)

Enjoy!

Arthur Miller Facts and Quotes

• Born October 17, 1915
• Wrote 17 plays
• Family intensely affected by the Depression.
• Attended the University of Michigan, graduating in 1938 with a degree in English.
• His first Broadway play, The Man Who Had All the Luck closes after only four performances in 1944.
• Appears before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956. Refuses to name names.
• Marries Marilyn Monroe in 1956. They divorce in 1960.
• There is a theatre gap in Miller's career from 1956 to 1964.
• From the sixties through to his death Miller's new plays never surpass his earlier success.
• Timebends, his autobiography, is published in 1987
• Died February 10, 2005

What he said... Quotes

• 'In a sense, all my plays are autobiographical.'
• 'With the possible exception of a doctor saving a life, writing a worthy play was the most important thing a human being could do.'
• 'The theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life.'
• 'The mission of the theater, after all, is to change, to raise the consciousness of people to their human possibilities.'
• 'To me the theatre is not a disconnected entertainment. It's the sound and the ring of the spirit of the people at any one time. It is where a collective mass of people through the genius of one author is able to project its terrors and its hopes and to symbolize them.'
• 'Well, all the plays that I was trying to write were plays that would grab an audience by the throat and not release them, rather than presenting an emotion which you could observe and walk away from.'

Common Themes

• Extraordinary tragedy in ordinary lives.
• American society after the depression and war.
• The flaws of men.
• The flawed individual in the larger society.
• The tragedy of being human.
• The American Dream and its vast consequences
• The past haunting the present.

Death of A Salesman

In Death of a Salesman, Mr. Miller stated in clean dramatic terms his belief that the tragic hero of the American 20th century was the average man. Charles Isherwood, New York Times February 11, 2005

Death of A Salesman has been called the first 'Great American Tragedy.' The play offers a glimpse into the last twenty-four hours in the life of Willy Loman. Willy is a salesman in his sixties who has been furiously chasing the American Dream his whole life without ever catching it.

This newsletter will look at dominant themes, the structure and language, and the characters; I'm going to assume you have a familiarity with the play. For each section there will be activities and questions.

Note that a number of the exercises involve working with the text. Because of the nature of the play there are just more male moments than female. I would strongly suggest having everyone work on all monologue/scenes regardless of gender. In class work, it's important to the understanding of Willy Loman to read his lines aloud. Enforce that girls are not 'playing' boys. They should just read the lines simply and honestly.

Quick Facts

• First produced in 1949.
• Miller wrote the play in six weeks.
• The first play to win the Tony, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize.
• At the time some saw the play as having an Anti-Capitalist message.
• In the initial film version, the studio wanted to tack on an short called Life of a Salesman, which showed how great it was to be a salesman.
• Lee L Cobb was the first Willy Loman. He has also been played by: Dustin Hoffman, Brian Dennehy, George C Scott, Avery Brooks.
• The play has been performed all over the world, including a Chinese translation in 1983.

Check This Out

NPR has three scenes from the 1985 TV version staring Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovitch on their website. Check it out!.

Dominant Themes and Motifs

A look at The American Dream, Realty vs Illusion, The Train of Change, Mythology, and the Importance of Geography.

The American Dream

'He had a good dream. It's the only dream you can have – to come out number-one man.' — Happy

Miller has said that every American writer is writing on some level about the American Dream. By textbook definition, the American Dream is the concept of success and opportunity for all whatever your social status: those who work hard will gain wealth and freedom. Willy Loman has a fractured vision of the American Dream. He believes that:

• Success (and more specifically wealth) comes to those who are well-liked and good-looking.
• If you're well-liked and good-looking you don't have to work hard to succeed.
• It is a white collar dream and cannot be achieved by rough labour.
• Success equals having 'things' and being better than your neighbours.

Layered with this is Willy's intense desire to show his success even if he's not successful. His Achilles heel is that he refuses to accept failure and change his path in life. He stubbornly continues the path he believes in no matter what, which leads to his madness and eventual death.

• Willy can take money from Charley when he loses his salary but can't take a job from him.
• Even in the past Willy exaggerates the amount of money he makes on the road and the friends he has.
• His need to be liked is so strong, he lies about everything.
• He would rather kill himself to try to continue Biff's quest for the Dream (whether Biff wants it or not) than change his path.
• He thinks the insurance money Biff will get from his death will make Biff better than Bernard.
• He thinks that the boys seeing the number of people who come out to his funeral will finally show them his success.

Willy has passed this fractured vision onto his sons. Neither are happy, neither are the successes Willy imagined they would be, neither knows exactly who they are because their foundation is based on lies. Biff knows this. He has been 'lost' since high school because of it and yet still get pulled under by it; he believes that an old boss will lend him money because 'he liked him.' Happy is as much a deceiver as Willy, lying about his successes. He repeats ideas so much they become the truth, such as the idea that he's getting married really soon.

Even Linda is affected by Willy's dream. When Ben offers Willy a chance to go to Alaska she is steadfastly against it:

'Why must everybody conquer the world? You're well-liked and the boys love you.' (Act 2)

And in the present, she chooses Willy over her sons; she chooses to support Willy one hundred percent, supporting his path:

'He's the dearest man in the world to me, and I won't have anyone making him feel unwanted and low and blue. You've got to make up your mind now, darling, there's no leeway any more. Either he's your father and you pay him that respect, or else you're not to come here.' (Act 1)

Willy's vision of the American Dream is a very small box with rigid rules; no one is allowed to have a dream that doesn't fit in that box. Unfortunately for Linda, Biff and Happy spend so much time and energy focused on Willy's dream they have none of their own. That is one of the tragedies of the play; all the characters chase a fractured dream that can never come true.

Activities and Exercises

• In groups, discuss what the American Dream is and what it means to you. How does your definition compare to Willy's? Create a list of emotions and action words that represent your version of the American Dream. Do the same for Willy's version. Create two tableaux, based on the two lists.
• The car symbolizes Willy's journey and failure to achieve the American Dream, from his past glory of watching Biff wax the Chevy to his suicide. Examine each mention of 'the car' in the play. What car does Willy have? How is it represented in the past and in the present? How does the car deteriorate? How far is his commute to work? What car does he drive in the past and what does he drive in the present?

• Willy's version of The American Dream is a small box with rigid rules. Physicalize this concept. In groups, have students create a small human box around one member. As each person experiences the box, have them recite one of following speeches. Discuss how it feels to be boxed in. Does it change the speech in anyway?

  WILLY, Act One

  Starting with: 'Like a young god.'

  Ending with: 'A star like that, magnificent, can never really fade away!'

  WILLY, Act Two

  Starting with: 'Without a penny to his name, three great universities are begging for him'...

  Ending with: 'You can't feel it with your hand like timber, but it's there!'

  LINDA, Act One

  Starting with: 'I'm – I'm ashamed to.'

  Ending with: 'Biff, I swear to God! Biff, his life is in your hands!'

  LINDA, Act One

  Starting with: 'Then make Charley your father, Biff.'

  Ending with: 'Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person.'

  BIFF, Act Two

  Starting with: 'No! Nobody's hanging himself Willy!

  Ending with: 'Why can't I say that, Willy?'

  HAPPY,Act One

  Starting with: 'All I can do now is wait for the merchandise manager to die.'

  Ending with: 'And still, goddammit, I'm lonely.'

Questions to Answer

• What is the American Dream?
• Where do Willy's dreams come from?
• Why does Willy cling to his dream so desperately?
• Deep down, what are Willy's real dreams?
• How do Linda, Biff and Happy define the American Dream?
• How do Charley and Bernard define the American Dream? Do they even have one?
• Does Willy have a good work ethic?
• What does the story of Dave Singleman tell you about Willy's vision of the American Dream?

Reality Versus Illusion

'I'll go to Hartford. I'm very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don't seem to take to me.' —Willy

Reality versus Illusion is a major theme in Death of A Salesman. It permeates the story, the structure, the characters and even the set. In order to get the dream he wants, Willy has created a world of illusion: He's great at his job, he has material wealth, he's well liked and has many friends, his sons are on their way to something big.

Willy is so used to lying that he believes his created world is reality. He is dead certain of himself when he tells Howard he averaged one-hundred and seventy dollars a week, even though Howard knows this is not the case. This is why his eventual fall is so devastating: Willy has to admit that nothing in his world is true.

The reality/illusion concept is most interesting in how it is interpreted by the other members of the Loman family. Each of them are fully caught in the web of Willy's illusion:

• Linda can see the reality of the situation but refuses to burst Willy's bubble. She knows Willy has been trying to kill himself, she knows that he gets money from Charley and pretends it's his salary. She doesn't want to 'embarrass Willy.'
• Biff has seen reality when he walks in on Willy and his mistress. He has been so pumped up by Willy's illusion that when he learns 'the dream' is not real it devastates him. And yet, the shreds of the illusion have such a hold on Biff; he knows what will make him happy, but doesn't chase it.
• Happy so needs his father's approval he picks up right where Willy left off. He creates an illusion of happiness and success in his life when in fact he's terribly lonely. Right to the end of the play Happy defends Willy's illusion.

In contrast, Charley has no illusions about life and constantly tries to bring Willy back into the real world:

'Willy, when're you gonna realize that them things don't mean anything? You named him Howard, but you can't sell that. The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you're a salesman, and you don't know that.' (Act 2)

But in the end, when the rest of the Lomans are bewildered and broken over Willy's death, Charley is really the only one in the play who truly understands why Willy did what he did and why he needed to create another world:

'Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don't put a bolt to a nut, he don't tell you the law, or give you medicine. He's a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back – that's an earthquake.' (Requiem)

Activities and Exercises

• In groups, assign each group one of the four Lomans. You may want to divide Willy into Act One and Act Two. Create a point form list of the Illusions they live under and the Reality of the situation.
• Improvise a scene showing how Willy sees himself as a salesman. Then improvise the reality.
• In groups, assign each group a character. Find moments which show the character living in an illusion. (e.g. Willy telling his boys how well known he is in New England) Then in groups improvise a scene that shows the 'reality.'
• The path of Willy's brother Ben's success is quite vague in the play. 'When I was seventeen I walked into the jungle and when I was twenty-one I walked out.' From Willy's perspective Ben is a great man, but from the audience's perspective Ben comes across as condescending. By the end of the play Ben is pure illusion. Create the reality of Ben's "success." Why does he visit Willy? Was he really successful?

Questions to Answer

• Does Linda help or hurt Willy by playing along with his illusions?
• Why does Charley never abandon Willy?
• Neither Biff nor Happy have married. What is the reality/illusion of their relationships with women?
• Does Happy think he's better than Biff?
• What is the moment in Willy's life that his illusion starts to crack?
• Willy says that if his boss' father was still alive, he (Willy) would be in charge of the New York office. Do you think this is true? Why or why not?

Mythology

Miller has said that his plays are influenced by Greek writing. Mythology in Death of A Salesman is a sub-theme of reality vs illusion and Willy's version of the American Dream. Willy creates a mythology for Biff and Happy about how great he is, that he's better than normal:

'You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer. 'Willy Loman is here!' That's all they have to know and I go right through.' (Act One)

Willy believes that looks equals success and refers to his sons as greek Gods:

'That's why I think Almighty God you're both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead.' (Act One)

Willy is so caught up in this illusion of his sons that he is baffled (particularly with Biff, who he describes as a golden Hercules) when they're not successful; when they're human. If you're a Greek god, you're invincible and the world comes to your feet. This is exactly the dream Willy hopes for.

Willy Loman is often described as a 'tragic hero.' A tragic hero, a re-occuring character in mythology, is a good person who has one tragic flaw that brings him down. That the person does not deserve their fate, but makes mistakes that lead to their eventual downfall. Miller believes that Willy is a tragic hero, but personally I don't see Willy Loman in this definition. I feel Willy makes choices instead of mistakes and in his final act he doesn't learn anything about his flaw. Sounds like a great discussion question...

Activities and Exercises

• Draw Biff and Happy the way that Willy sees them. Then draw them the way they truly are. How does Biff's math teacher (Mr. Birnbaum) see Biff? How does Happy's boss see him?
• Research the common story structure of a Greek tragedy. How does the structure of Death of A Salesman compare?
• Improvise a scene between the younger, Herculean Biff and the older broken Biff. How do they see each other? What do they say to each other?

Questions to Answer

• Is Willy a tragic hero?

The Train of Change

'You can't see nothing out here. They boxed in the whole goddamn neighbourhood!' — Willy

Willy Loman clearly isn't able to accept change in himself, but it's interesting to see how resistant he is to change in the world as well. He doesn't like it when Linda buys a different type of 'newfangled' cheese, he doesn't understand technology, he doesn't like the way the neighbourhood is changing and 'the woods are burning.' And yet, Willy's choice of career is the epitome of change in the mid-twentieth century: moving from working the land, to industrial and white collar. He is certain that being a salesman is the only way to his dream, even though he is only truly happy when talking about the land and nature, or building something with his hands.

Change is represented in a number of ways in the play. Physically, the backdrop of the surrounding apartment buildings loom over the Loman house. Their personal space is shrinking with every passing second; the walls are literally closing in for the characters. When Willy visits his boss, Howard has the latest recording machine. He represents the future. Willy is stuck circling in the past.

By the end of the play Willy is kneeling in his backyard planting seeds. He's desperate to leave something behind and the only thing he can hold on to is working with the land.

Activies and Exercises

• In groups, discuss the line, 'the woods are burning' in reference to world change.
• In groups, compare the idea of Willy being 'boxed in' by the neighbourhood, and being boxed in by the American Dream.
• Using the speeches from the American Dream Activity section, repeat the the human box exercise. As the student says the speech, the human box becomes smaller and smaller. The person inside the box should feel uncomfortable by the end but certainly not claustrophobic – be aware and sensitive of that! How do the speeches feel now to the actor, when they actually experience 'the walls closing in?'
• In groups, improvise a scene where other salesmen and secretaries complain to Howard about Willy, specifically his inability to change.
• Improvise dialogue between the teenage Bif/Happy and their older counterparts. How have they changed? How are they the same?
• Look at the Howard/Willy scene (Starting with, "I'll go to Boston." Ending with, "Pull yourself together, kid.") In pairs, read the scene (regardless of gender, DO NOT suggest girls to act like boys, just read the lines) on your feet. Play with creating physical change in Howard's position to Willy - How does this affect the scene? How does it affect the way Willy says his lines?
  • Howard with his back to Willy for the whole scene. Willy must stand still.
  • Howard take a step away from Willy with every line. Willy must stand still.
  • Howard turns his back to Willy with each line. Willy has to constantly try to change position to get in front of Howard.

Geography

'Opportunity is tremendous in Alaska, William. Surprised you're not up there.' — Ben

Geography is everywhere in the play. The West, Alaska, New England, the City, the country-side, Africa; they all mean something to Willy and the other characters. There is the weight of importance on The West for Biff, on Willy getting the New York job, that Willy thinks he's vital in New England, that he never took up Ben's offer to go to Alaska, that Happy's great idea is the Florida idea. When Willy talks about who will come to his funeral he names the places: Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire.

Geography can also be linked to the theme of world change: the east coast is modern success, the west and Alaska are nature personified - rugged and rough and connected to the land. The West is the unknown and uneasy, the east coast is known and linked to success. Biff would truly be happy in the West but he keeps feeling that he should do something more:

'What the hell am I doing, playing around with horses, twenty-eight dollars a week! I'm thirty-four years old, I oughta be makin' my future. That's when I come running home.' (Act One)

Willy's expression of unhappiness with the west and the old ways is entrenched in both his sons and in Linda too. Again, his dreams and his views have wormed their way into his family's views. When Ben asks Willy to join him in Alaska, her response is straight to the point:

'Why must everybody conquer the world?' (Act Two)

It's heartbreakingly vivid that as Willy starts to break down, his geographical connection is not with the city but with the countryside and nature. He starts the play talking about the scenery on his way to New England 'It's so beautiful up there, Linda, the trees are so thick,' (Act One) and ends the play planting seeds in the backyard.

Activies and Exercises

• In groups, discuss your geographical connection. Where are you most comfortable? The most uncomfortable? What type of geography do you connect to?
• In groups, give each group a geographical location in the play. Define what it represents physically and emotionally to each character in the play.
• In groups, personify each geographical location. Based on how they are described in the play, what type of character would each location be? How would they look and act? Have each group write a monologue that represents the location. Then Improvise conversations between the play characters and the geographical characters.

Structure and Language

The structure and language are very specifically chosen and must be studied along with the story and characters. These elements highlight the craftsmanship Miller demonstrates as a playwright.

Structure

'That's funny. For a second there you reminded me of my brother Ben.' — Willy

The structure of Death of a Salesman works hand in hand in showing Willy Loman's deterioration. It's highly theatrical and an excellent example of how theatre has to SHOW its story and not TELL its story.

This is most evident in the technical use of past and present in the play. So much of what determines Willy's downfall are the events of his past. Miller chose to show those events instead of telling us about them. These are more than just flashbacks; the past and present occur side by side on the stage, sometimes colliding. Willy hears the laugh of his mistress as his wife darns stockings. Willy speaks to his brother Ben in the past as he plays cards with his neighbour Charley in the present.

This weaving of text allows the audience to 'see' Willy falling apart – to the other characters he seems to be having intense conversations with himself. Through the magic of theatre the audience sees exactly who he's talking to. As a writer and a lover of using the stage to its greatest potential, this use of simultaneous past and present is wonderful.

Activities and Exercises

• Create a timeline that puts the action of the play in order.
• In pairs, have each Younger character face their older selves. What would the younger selves think of the older characters? What advice would the older characters give the younger selves?
• Try to recreate the simultaneous use of past and present in your own scene. First write two separate scenes: a two character scene that happened ten years ago and a reunion between the two characters in the present. Weave the two conversations together so that past and present happen on stage at the same time.

Questions to Answer

• How do Willy's fantasies about the past help/hinder his present?
• How do the things in Willy's life change between the past and the present (the Chevy, the Refrigerator)

Language

'Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy.' Charley

The above quote is not a typo. Charley speaks this line in the Requiem as the family stands over Willy's grave. The language in Death of A Salesman is complex, fascinating and very purposeful. There is a combination of realism and symbolism, strange tense and word choices, bold sweeping images. Sometimes the things the characters say don't quite seem to fit. The first thing to remember is every line is a choice. It's not a mistake that Charley says:

'A Salesman is got to dream, boy,' rather than, 'A Salesman has got to dream, boy.'

The language a playwright uses can give many clues to who a character is and how to play that character.

CLICK HERE for a language worksheet to use with your students. The sheet takes a look at the following:

Word Choice

There are a couple of strange word choices. Have students define the words and describe why they are important in the play. Knowing that they were purposefully chosen, think on why Miller chose these specific words and not others.

Repetition

Miller intentionally uses repetition. Who repeats lines and why?

Flip Flop

Willy often makes a statement and then states the complete opposite. What does this tell you about his character?

Verbal Images

In such a realistic mental breakdown, there are some beautiful symbolic images. What do they mean?

Activities and Exercises

Find the one line of dialogue that illuminates each of the main characters. Which line says the most about them? What's the most important line?

In groups, analyze Charley's language. What does his language say about his personality? His place in society? And most importantly why does he say the line: 'Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy.'

Willy gets called "Kid" by his younger boss. Biff considers himself a boy. Charley tells Willy to grow up. In groups discuss the difference between being a man and being a kid. Why does Charley think Willy needs to grow up? Why does Biff think he's a boy?

Secondly, try playing the first scene between Charley and Willy with Willy purposefully acting like a teenager. Does it change anything? Illuminate anything?

In groups, discuss the names in the play. What, if any, is their significance? What does each name tell you about the characters?

Questions to Answer

• Why is the play called Death of a Salesman and not Death of Willy Loman?

Characters

Certainly the story of Willy and his downfall are central to the play. But the complex characters and their relationships with each other are the play's heart. There are layers upon conflicting layers – these are great characters to watch and to play.

The Lomans in Detail

'We never told the truth for ten minutes in this house!' — Biff

Willy

Willy is in his sixities and has been a travelling salesman for the same company for thirty four years. He has always believed that success comes to those who are well liked and have personality. For him, the life of a salesman seemed like the dream job. But his need to be liked, and his need to be a great salesman are so intense that he lies about his success: he was never a liked and never a great salesman. To that end, the present in the play is a low point in Willy's life: he is taken off salary and fired. He has to secretly borrow money from a neighbour. His sons are not successful. He truly doesn't know where it all went wrong and continues to grasp at the shreds of his dream right to the end. His final suicide is his one last act to give his son success.

In the Requiem we learn that the real talent Willy has was as a labourer – he was wonderful with his hands, he built the porch and the cellar, the extra bathroom and the garage. Charley mentions that he was 'a happy man with a batch of cement' and Biff says 'he had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong.'

Also in the Requiem we learn the truth of who Willy is. Willy thinks that he'll be vindicated at his funeral because his sons will see the throngs of mourners. When in fact, no one is there because no one liked him and no one cared about him.

Playing Willy

Willy is a great part. He struggles from beginning to end, which is a wonderfully active emotion to play. The key to Willy is not to act 'crazy' and to not shout from beginning to end. Willy's action continues to spiral down throughout the play – if he's at rock bottom in the first scene there's no where for Willy to go. Also, Willy is an expert at 'presenting confidence.' He's not really confident but he knows what he's supposed to do – perhaps this is why no one ever liked him, he was always 'playing' and never himself.

Monologue Moment

Prepare the speech Willy gives in Howard's office which starts 'Oh, yeah, my father lived many years in Alaska.' For the monologue use the concept of 'confidence with cracks' for playing the character. For the majority of the monologue, present Willy with confidence. He's not allowed to shout at all in the monologue. Choose one or two moments for Willy's despair to peek through. Perhaps he laughs inappropriately when he says the word Alaska, or there's a hitch in his voice when he talks about Dave Singleman being loved. Secondly, this is where Willy reveals the reason why he chose to be a salesman, and subconsciously, that he'll never be Dave Singleman. How can that be shown emotionally in the piece? Remember – no yelling!

Questions to Answer

• What is Willy's arc as a character? Does he change throughout the play? Does he learn anything?
• How did his dreams go so wrong?
• How and why does he repress what truly made him happy?
• Willy tries to kill himself before the action of the play begins and then at the end. What is the difference in intention between the attempts?

Linda

This is Willy's play, but Linda has just as much complexity. She loves Willy without doubt or reservation. But she's willing to sacrifice her sons for her support of Willy. She is quite smart (she is able to add up Willy's commission without effort) yet none of the other characters see her smarts. When Willy talks to Biff about Oliver she is constantly talked over and told to shut up. Willy calls Linda his 'foundation and support.' Linda is the supposed rock of the play, the one that everyone clings too. But Linda is not strong enough to bring Willy into the real world. She can't tell Willy that she knows about the money he gets from Charley and the suicide attempts. Clearly a complex character full of contradictions.

Playing Linda

The key to Linda is to not see her or play her as a one-dimensional housewife. That's no fun for anyone. Linda is all about struggling between strength and weakness. She's strong enough to stand up to Biff and tell him he's not welcome if he doesn't support Willy, but not strong enough to stand up to Willy himself. She is strong in her ability to support Willy, but weak in her ability to follow through when she sees the truth of his situation. Think about how to physically and emotionally show Linda as a moving mass of contradiction.

Monologue Moment

Prepare a monologue starting with 'Oh, boys, it's so hard to say a thing like this!' End with 'Biff, I swear to God,his life is in your hands." (Cut Happy and Biff's lines.) Focus on the concept of 'strength and weakness.' Play with moving from each state (strong then weak) with each line. Find a strong physical stance and a weak one. After going line by line, choose specific moments that show Linda as strong and then weak.

Questions to Answer

• Is Linda's support harmful or helpful to Willy?
• Does she cushion Willy's fall or is she part of the problem?

Biff

When the play begins Biff is a shadow of his former self. A star in high school but unable to hold down a job in the ensuing years. He steals. He's been to jail. The only thing that truly makes him happy, working on a farm, gives him such guilt he can't stick with it. He has lost all confidence he had as a teenager, and though he doesn't necessarily want that same confidence back he does want to know who he is and where he should go. He has lost all certainty and wants to be certain again.

Biff's relationship with his father is tantamount to understanding Biff. As a youth, Biff held his father up to an unattainable ideal. When he learns about his father's affair that ideal is dashed to ruins. He's never been able to recover.

Playing Biff

Biff changes the most in the play. He moves from an Adonis, cocky, football star, to a broken, wandering bum, to a state of finally realizing he can never live the dreams his father has for him. Biff is described as lost, which is an active choice when playing the character. Think of how to show 'lost' in the way Biff stands and moves. This will contrast nicely with the cocky, confident golden boy of the past. He also struggles for identity. To struggle is another great active acting choice. He knows what he loves and knows that in Willy's world it's not good enough. He struggles an inner tug of war between those two points of knowledge.

Monologue Moment

Prepare the speech starting with the line "No! Nobody's hanging himself, Willy!" In this monologue Biff is verbalizing the realization that he'll never be the dream that Willy has for him. Focus on the concept of 'struggling for identity.' Make this a physical and emotional struggle as he tries to make his thoughts known, as he tries to make Willy understand. Watch that the whole speech isn't yelled from beginning to end. Biff is exploding with frustration at this moment but there needs to be variety of tone.

Questions to Answer

• Why does Biff steal?
• Given that Biff thinks his father is a phoney, why doesn't he just live the life he wants in the West? Why has he felt a need to be something his father would be proud of?
• At what point is Biff too old to blame his father for his problems?
• Will Biff move on after his father's death?
• Why does Biff tell no one about Willy's affair?

Happy

Happy is the embodiment of Willy's worst traits. A brash and bold talker, always talking about the deal, the dream, the women, the money. But in reality he has none of these things and no vision to achieve them. Happy is able to ignore reality just as well as Willy does. He works as one of two assistants to the assistant but makes it sound like his boss' job is right around the corner. Happy lies to himself to comfort himself - he admits that he's lonely to Biff but instead of acting on that feeling he talks himself into a happier illusion. He constantly tells his mother he's going to get married and it seems like he believes it. This need to lie reaches a frantic pitch in the restaurant scene when he pressures Biff to lie about his success with Bill Oliver. At the end of the play he's the only one who can't see that Willy's dream was false. He defends Willy right to the end.

Playing Happy

Happy needs Willy's approval so badly, he's basically turned himself into Willy. Keep that in mind as you create his character. What physical traits and gestures can Happy take from Willy? Give Happy a need to pursue.

Monologue Moment

Prepare the speech which beings, "All I can do now is wait for the merchandise manager to die." Given what you know about Happy, think about the moment Happy says he's lonely. Why does he say it? How does it say it – is he serious? Does he laugh? Is he confused? He says he has what he wants, so why is he lonely? Think about how Happy can physically embody Willy in this monologue.

Questions to Answer

• Given what we know about Happy's behaviour, does Happy know about the affair?
• Why is it important to Happy that his mother thinks he's getting married? How does his lie compare to Willy's exaggerations of what he makes on the road?
• Does Happy see Willy as a liar? How does he see his father?
• Where will Happy be in five years?
• Given Happy's behaviour in the play, why does he admit he's lonely to Biff?
• What does Happy think of Biff? Does he think he's better than Biff?
• Does Happy believe the illusion he's created for his life?
• Biff wants Happy to go out west with him but he'll never go. Why?

Relationships

'Isn't that – isn't that remarkable? Biff – he likes me! —Willy

As with the characters, the majority of the relationships in the play are based in struggle, they're in a fierce tug of war. Characters often want something they can't get from other characters. And at the base of it all is a fierce love. These characters, whether they say so or not, do love each other. That's what makes the struggle so painful

The relationship between sons and fathers

Willy and Biff, Willy and his father, Willy and Hap, Charley and Bernard. What sons think of their father and what fathers want for their sons is pivotal in the script. In the Loman family Willy is profoundly affected by his lack of father while Biff becomes overwhelmed with too much father in his life. Happy wants his father's attention so much, he becomes Willy. Comparatively there is the relationship between Charley and Bernard. Willy is astonished that Charley didn't 'take an interest' in Bernard and he the most successful of the three boys.

The relationship between Willy and Linda

Willy and Linda love each other and are there for each other. Linda is there so much for Willy, she stands behind him even though she suspects his dreams are flawed. Willy despairs that Linda has 'suffered.' But neither Linda nor Willy tell the truth to each other. Linda won't stand up to Willy. Willy has an affair on Linda and tries to hide the money he gets from Charley. The lack of truth with undying love is a toxic mix for the pair.

The relationship between Willy and Ben

Willy is obsessed with the seemingly instant and seemingly effortless success of his brother Ben. Ben offered Willy a chance to go to Alaska and he has regretted it all his life. Is Willy's memory of Ben real or an illusion? Ben is a fragment of a character, almost ghost-like as he wafts into his scenes. He's the only one who talks to the present Willy, encouraging him to commit suicide.

The relationship between Willy and Charley

Willy spends the whole play insulting Charley, calling him stupid, thinking he's the better, more successful man. In the end, Charley is the only person Willy can borrow money from when he's desperate and calls Charley his only friend.

Activities and Exercises

• Improvise a conversation between Willy and his father.
• Willy's mother is mentioned only in passing. Discuss Willy's relationship with her.
• What were Willy and Linda like before they met each other? In groups improvise scenes of Willy and Linda as teenagers. How much of a personality is Willy? What are Linda's dreams? What did she want to be?
• When and how did Willy and Linda meet?
• Improvise the first time Charley gave Willy $50. When does this happen? How does Willy approach Charley?
• Create a visualization of the relationship between Willy and his sons. What image represents their relationship? A noose? A tug of war?

Quesitons to Answer

• What happened to Willy's father?
• When does Linda find out about the money?
• Linda choses Willy over her sons. At what point does she come to this decision?
• Why does Willy focus so intensely on Biff? Is it because he's his first son? What does he not see in Happy?
• Why is it so important to Willy that his sons are successful?
• Charley repeatedly tells Willy to grow up. Why is that?
• Charley suggests that Willy is jealous of Charley. Why?
• Based on the scenes we see with Ben, what does Ben think of Willy?
• Why does Willy have an affair?

Shout!

After many days, months and years, much blood, sweat and tears, (hey that rhymed!) high notes and low notes, much joy and excitement, Shout! the musical is now available! Let's Shout it out!

www.ShoutTheMusical.com

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