Director's Vision (Death of a Salesman)

My initial impression of Death of a Salesman from reading the synopsis was that it would be a very gloomy play filled with sad emotion. Just as assumed after reading the play, it was indeed gloomy and sad. These two feelings, I later discovered, were due to the overall sense of exhaustion amongst the characters. The audience felt this exhaustion through the storyline of “Willy”, whose desperation for success of the American Dream and lack of it stirs your heart and most importantly, your mind. This being, “Is the American Dream truly attainable?”.

When viewing a show, I tend to be drawn to the effect the performance has on the audience. Ideally, the audience should leave the show with new perspectives or generally some deep thoughts. Rather than a show that just makes someone laugh or cry, the audience should be able to think about why they would react like that. In Death of a Salesman, the audience will leave the show with different emotions, but forced to leave thinking deeply about life, specifically, The American Dream.

The American Dream (the strive for success in America) is chased by “Willy” from the start of the play and constantly leaves him exhausted. The wanting to be successful and lack of accomplishment in doing so is what drives the plot of the show. Without this overlaying theme, the show would just leave the audience with received emotion, and no thought. The American Dream is what provokes thought and analysis (A message) of the struggles one has in society, and explains why chasing a dream can be so detrimental (to one's’ health?). This message is followed all the way to the end with The Death of a Salesman.

In order to emphasize the exhaustion and negativity that Willy faces when attempting to reach the American Dream, I feel it would be best to pull influence from Artaud’s Theater of Crisis, as well as Peter Brook’s focus on the emotional impact on the audience. Pulling from Brook’s focus, the play will be performed in the round in order to create a more intimate feeling between the actors and the audience. For influence from Artaud, fear will be created on stage and this fear will be felt by the audience as well. In order to create the feeling of fear, the lighting will be orange, white, and mainly red.  The actors will show great emotion when in despair by crying and/ or screaming. These emotions will be so strong to where the audience won’t be able to understand the specific dialogue.

Brecht will also be another influencer when directing Death of a Salesman. By emphasizing social constructs such as economy and social status, which are key components of the American Dream, the audience is left to question how successful one can be in the American society. For example, throughout Willy’s journey. As a Director I want the audience to feel the emotions that Willy feels, this being exhaustion. By relating to his emotion, the audience can gain a better understanding of the struggle of trying to attain the American Dream.