Critic and academic Guy Webster recently asked five theatre critics to write about recent accusations that reviews can close shows, which centred around the cancellation of several musicals like Back to the Future and Waitress. Our responses were included in the latest post on his Substack, This Is Not a Review. The discussion was lively, all of us taking a different approach to the subject – exploring the role criticism plays in the theatre ecosystem in 2026.
In my
response, Nobody Listens to Us Anyway, trying to find a bright spot in all the doom and
gloom, I wondered if the commercial sector might have more success in touring
plays rather than multi-million-dollar musicals, replicas
of West End and Broadway productions. I cited the seasonal recurrence of the
Old Vic production of A Christmas Carol, but I was also thinking of
recent runs of Art and Shirley Valentine and the return season of
Death of a Salesman.
Return
seasons are rare, but the fact Salesman had received such rave reviews,
I thought reviving classics in stripped-back productions with starry casts
might be a way to keep our commercial theatres booked and busy. I had heard
such great things about the first run of Neil Armfield’s production and what a
treat to see Anthony LaPaglia as Willy Loman and the radiant Alison Whyte as
Linda Loman.
Salesman is a modern American classic and
the role of Willy Loman asks a lot of actors. The play switches back and forth
between Loman’s slow slide toward senility and his life as a young family man, with two young
boys and a wife who will always stick by his side. It’s a role that must be on
the bucket list of most actors and it makes sense for LaPaglia to want to do
this, after his early stage success in another Arthur Miller play on Broadway, A
View from the Bridge.
Whatever
LaPaglia had thirty years ago, when he won a Tony award over John Leguizamo
(playing himself in his one-man show, Freak) and Alfred Molina in Art,
was not on display at the opening night of Salesman in Melbourne this
week. He stumbled over his lines, stepped on other actors’ cues and it was
difficult to tell the difference between young and old Loman, given LaPaglia’s
penchant for pauses that would make Harold Pinter blush. The actor was also
clearly wearing an earpiece on stage and I wonder if people are getting their
money’s worth if an actor goes on stage, all prepared to be prompted.
Armfield’s
vision for his production is bold – set on bleachers at Ebbet’s field, a place
tied to the history of the young family, where the sons play football. An
ensemble of twelve actors are on stage for much of the show’s running time,
too, evoking both classic Greek chorus – and tragedy – as well as firmly
getting us inside Willy’s mind. These people populate his thoughts all the time
and as he starts to lose a grip on reality, fewer and fewer actors remain in
the bleachers. It does keep the production moving, too. No blackouts between
scenes or awkward transitions. It’s a thrilling elaboration on the text and
subtext of the play.
If there
had been a much stronger performance in the centre, this might have sung.
Unfortunately, the hesitation of LaPaglia threw off a number of the other
actors, too. I am often forgiving of opening night jitters, but this was like watching
dominoes fall. That said, there were occasional moments of brilliance, mostly reserved for
Alison Whyte, who did shine in Linda’s two most important scenes – the
“attention must be paid” speech and in the epilogue. If the ensemble could have
matched this level – and given this cast, they should have nailed this, I might
have been talking about this one for years.
In 2019, I
was lucky enough to see the Young Vic production of Death of a Salesman
directed by Marianne Elliot. Wendell Pierce and Sharon D. Clarke were
astonishing as Willy and Linda, and the added layer of casting black actors as
the Lomans gave an extra frisson to their exchanges with the neighbours and
Willy’s colleagues. It felt like a new play; a period piece with a modern
thoughtfulness and sensibility.
That
production jumped to the West End and Broadway (in 2023) and was acclaimed on both
sides of the pond. The play remains so beloved that it has been revived on
Broadway yet again this year, starring Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf. Out of
the seven times the play has been produced on Broadway, five of the actors
playing Willy have been nominated for a Tony Award – including Lane, Pierce,
and Philip Seymour Hoffman in 2012. The role is iconic and I wish Melbourne
audiences could see the Tony-winning Anthony LaPaglia of the 1990s and not a performance
that is disconnected from Arthur Miller’s classic text.
Audiences are paying a lot of money to see this show and with all the talk about why theatre is in trouble right now, there are certain questions that should be aimed at producers. It's easy to blame the cost-of-living crisis - people cannot afford to go, but when the product is sub-standard, people may pay and then not come back.
The two complimentary tickets I got to review this show would have cost me $170 each (plus fees) if I had gone any other night. If I had paid to see this, I would have felt ripped off. As it is, I didn’t pay anything and I still feel like I was robbed.
- Keith Gow, Theatre First
Death of
a Salesman is
playing in a strictly limited season, closing next Saturday 22nd
August
Photo: Wayne Taylor
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