{"id":929,"date":"2012-04-16T14:32:29","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T21:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=929"},"modified":"2012-04-18T09:09:36","modified_gmt":"2012-04-18T16:09:36","slug":"rebirth-of-a-masterpiece-death-of-a-salesman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2012\/writing\/rebirth-of-a-masterpiece-death-of-a-salesman\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebirth of a Masterpiece – Death of a Salesman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every once in awhile, a piece of writing sets itself apart from the others in its brillia\"\"<\/a>nce. The play, Death of a Salesman<\/a> by Arthur Miller<\/a>, written in 1949, is that piece of writing. It\u2019s one that still touches the hearts of its audience and leaves it stunned at the end.<\/p>\n

I had a chance to see it for the third time last week on Broadway. It didn\u2019t disappoint. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman<\/a> as Willy Loman, Andrew Garfield<\/a> (of Social Network fame) as Biff, this rebirth of a masterpiece, directed by Mike Nichols<\/a>, did not disappoint. In fact, I left the theatre bawling.<\/p>\n

So what is it about this story that connects in such a powerful way? What is it that makes this story timeless?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

At the Ethel Barrymore Theatre<\/p><\/div>\n

In examining what I\u2019d heard and seen, I realized it wasn\u2019t just Hollywood stars taking their turns at a classic. Nor was it Mike Nichol\u2019s brilliant direction. They all did a magnificent job bringing this play to the stage once again. But it was more than star power that had the audience on its feet in a standing ovation. It was Arthur Miller\u2019s words that made it all happen. Without them, there wouldn\u2019t have been this theatrical magic.<\/p>\n

What Arthur Miller did was create a character that any man (or woman) could relate to. The lead character, Willy Loman, is a man with dreams and a man who loves his family so much that he embellishes his work life as a traveling salesman to impress his wife and his two sons. When he encounters trouble along the way, he keeps it to himself. He keeps up the facade he\u2019s created. He can\u2019t face the fact that he isn\u2019t successful nor is he the man he pretends to be. He\u2019s too proud (his failing) to admit the truth. In the end, his lies catch up with him. He\u2019s a broken man who\u2019s no longer the hero to his boys nor the breadwinner for his wife. He tried to live the American dream, but it didn\u2019t pan out for him.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to say whether the dream broke him, or he broke the dream. It\u2019s that ambiguity that has the audience leaving the theater thinking about life\u2019s choices. As a writer, I can only hope to write such a story.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts on this play or your thoughts on my thoughts.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every once in awhile, a piece of writing sets itself apart from the others in its brilliance. The play, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, written in 1949, is… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[88,87,4],"tags":[315,314,313,78,312,298,304,316,5],"class_list":["post-929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-theatre-2","category-writing","tag-andrew-garfield","tag-broadway","tag-death-of-a-salesman","tag-diana-stevan","tag-mike-nichols","tag-philip-seymour-hoffman","tag-play","tag-rebirth-of-a-masterpiece","tag-writing-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-eZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1572,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/film-2\/philip-seymour-hoffman-a-brilliant-but-tortured-artist\/","url_meta":{"origin":929,"position":0},"title":"Philip Seymour Hoffman – A Brilliant but Tortured Artist","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"7 \u041b\u044e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I was relaxing in a hotel room in Miami a few mornings ago, when my husband, Rob, looked up from his newspaper to say, \u201cYou won\u2019t believe who just died. One of the great actors.\u201d Hearing Philip Seymour Hoffman had overdosed on heroin was a shock even though we knew\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Philip Seymour Hoffman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Philip-Seymour-Hoffman-202x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":895,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2012\/film-2\/the-curious-appeal-of-tragedy\/","url_meta":{"origin":929,"position":1},"title":"The Curious Appeal of Tragedy","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"23 \u0411\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0437\u043d\u044f, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"After watching the film, Love Liza with the incredibly talented Philip Seymour Hoffman, I wondered what it was about this story that kept me engaged. It was depressing.\u00a0 And yet, the film won the Waldo Salt screenwriting award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002. It\u2019s about a man who\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Love-Liza-166x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":859,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2012\/writing\/asghar-farhadis-film-a-separtion-universal-film-and-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":929,"position":2},"title":"Asghar Farhadi’s Film, A Separation – A Universal Film and Story","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"29 \u041b\u044e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw Asghar Farhadi's film,\u00a0A Separation, the week before it won best foreign film at the Oscars.\u00a0 Shot in a very intimate fashion\u2014no panoramic shots of city or country\u2014this film tells a story that could be told anywhere. The movie's about a man struggling with a father who has Alzheimer's\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Asghar Farhadi","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/A-Separation-202x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2033,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2015\/writing\/finding-graham-greene-and-the-mob-in-a-havana-hotel\/","url_meta":{"origin":929,"position":3},"title":"Finding Graham Greene And The Mob In A Havana Hotel","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"1 \u0422\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043d\u044f, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Hotel Mercure Sevilla, where we recently stayed in 2015, is where Hemingway wrote some of Farewell To Arms,\u00a0but it's also known as the place \u00a0Graham Greene chose to write one of his many prize-winning novels. 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