Death Of A Salesman

So much attention has been paid to Willy Loman as Tragic Hero, we often forget that he is, as the play's title states, a salesman -- kin to the cynical shysters of Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross and the butt of countless jokes trading on his ancestral stereotypes. Tom Higgins' Willy is a salesman first, however; a gladhander brimming with bluster and bonhommie. He exhorts his two sons (sensitively played by John Gaynor and Brian McCaskill) to live by his code of bluff and braggadocio: "Personality always wins the day," while secretly sneering at his gentle brother, Charley. Willy also envies his high-rolling brother, Ben, portrayed as a mystical, Shepardian mentor by Chuck Spencer.

The remaining cast turn in likewise detailed, well-thought-out characterizations, with the exception of Esther McCormick, whose Linda Loman relies on attitude and physical presence as a substitute for subtext interpretation. Director Michael Menendian can be proud of this production which, though containing no dazzling "moments," does ample justice to one of the greatest American plays of the 20th Century.