Death of a Salesman/Malvern Theatres

THE neon lettering looms large, crackling and spluttering out the American myth that anybody can make it big provided they have the drive to succeed.

Our salesman has swallowed the message hook, line and sinker. However, he is actually a prisoner in this land of the free, shackled not just by the system, but mainly because he’s pinioned by his own delusions.

Nicholas Woodeson delivers a blisteringly powerful performance as the stressed-out Willy Loman, a man who should have quit his job years ago. Loman’s fantasy world is further fuelled by the presence of his drop-out son Biff (George Taylor) a shiftless lumberjack dreamer who ironically can see the wood for the trees.

Arthur Miller’s moving if over-long play is set in post-war New York, a neurotic, hyperactive city where winners take all and losers are just blown away like chaff on the wind coming off the East River.

The clashing father-son theme may be as old as the hills, but this collision of testosterone-driven egos is something to be marvelled at as the two men go at each other like stags at a Highland rut.

Meanwhile, long-suffering wife Linda (Tricia Kelly) struggles to comfort and reassure her short-fused spouse despite him repaying the kindness by having cheap motel liaisons with the gushing Miss Francis (Connie Walker).

Ben Deery as Happy Loman seems at first to be the only person with a grip on reality, but his façade eventually drops to reveal a man who is just as deluded as his increasingly manic father.

The late and much lamented Tim Pigott-Smith was originally scheduled to play the main part and it’s impossible not to wonder what sort of a job he would have made of it.

But his replacement more than does justice to this demanding role and therefore provides any number of reasons why you should catch this enthralling piece of theatre. It runs until Saturday (May 27).

John Phillpott