BIFF
Loman
Death
Of A
Salesman
The Synopsis
Death of a Salesman
The 1948 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller was described as “the tragedy of a man who gave his life, or sold it, in pursuit of the American Dream.” Willy Loman (Philip Seymour Hoffman) believes he has been a failure as a father and a spouse after spending years on the road as a traveling salesman. Happy and Biff (Andrew Garfield) , his sons, are unsuccessful by any standard, even his. Willy retreats into daydreams of an idealized past as his job falters. The play’s climactic scene features Biff getting ready to leave home, getting into a fight with Willy, admitting that he’s been in jail for three months, and mocking his father’s trust in “a grin and a shoeshine.” Willy kills himself because his illusions were dashed and he was bitter and damaged. A restricted copy of this play is available at the NYC Public Library on request to theater students & researchers.
Date:
March 15, 2012
Length:
2hr 40min (1 intermission)Writers:
Arthur MillerDirector:
Mike NicholsStarring:
Andrew Garfield, Philip Seymour Hoffman , Linda Emond , John Glover and moreThe Reviews
What they say
"Garfield concentrates his power..."
"...the play belongs to Garfield and Hoffman, as it must. Both know how to weaponize language. Both are performers of demon strength who are always on the razor’s edge of succumbing to their own “technique,” but, miraculously, don’t."
"Mr. Garfield brings searing heat"
"Mr. Garfield brings searing heat to Biff’s Oedipal confrontations with his father...He’s ...like the tormented James Dean of “Rebel Without a Cause.!
"Garfield ...supplies turbo-charged catharsis"
"Garfield plunges to the sea-floor bottom of this fractured father-son relationship and reveals unspeakable heartbreak throughout his perilous descent....an actor willing to expose those primal wounds that in real life are just too painful to reopen. "
