CELIA IPIOTIS REVIEWS '"DEATH OF A SALESMAN"

New York, New York -- November 2, 2022
Attention must be paid to The Death of A Salesman, Arthur Miller's American tragedy starring Wendell Pierce (the doomed Willy Loman), Sharon D. Clarke (the stalwart wife, Linda Loman), and the sons, McKinley Belcher III (Happy Loman) and Biff Loman (Khris Davis).

On the brink of psychological and spiritual collapse, Loman, an aging and increasingly out-of-touch salesman, rants against the forces that push time ahead of him. Disturbed by his unscalable descent, Linda Loman calls their two sons home to help level the shaky raft.

Problematically, the two sons wrestle with their own ingrained demons. Once a promising football star, Biff finds he must repeat math in summer school to graduate. Intent on discussing his future with his father, Biff walks in on him having an affair. Stunned by the betrayal, Biff drops out of school and never realizes his potential. Then there's Happy, the younger brother. He enjoys a passion for women, drink and fast money.

Once back home, the brothers fall into deeply creased patterns in relation to one another and their parents. Everyone appears to live in dreams built on quicksand. Much as they love their father, the boys can't straighten out their own lives, and like their father, they can't find their way in a rapidly changing world.

Forcefully directed by Miranda Cromwell, the potent cast reveals shifting layers of tolerance. An unadorned set by Anna Fleischle allows the imagination to sift through competing fantasies.

One of the more compelling fantasies materializes in the form of Willy's ghostly older brother Ben, the magnetic Andre de Shields-- blinding in a white suit and shoes. Taunting his brother, de Shields slips and slides across the stage like a fancy flim-flam man goading Willy to be the aggressor, an unleashed animal, and not be oppressed.

A top flight cast muscles Miller's words into a truth bent by an unjust reality. Guaranteed to stay by your side for weeks.
EYE ON THE ARTS, NY -- Celia Ipiotis

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BALLET HISPANICO

Image
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Línea Recta (Photo by Erin Baiano) New York, New York June 6, 202- - Ballet Hispanico celebrated its second season at City Center. True to its mission, Ballet Hispanico offers a voice to Latine choreographers as well as stellar dancers. The program opened with William Forsythe’s 1987 duet New Sleep , dedicated to the memory and legacy of Tina Ramirez, founding director (1929-2022). Fatima Andere and Antonio Cangiano, were almost always physically connected in high tech, quick partnering to composer Thom Willem’s aggressive score of metallic clanking sounds. Their exquisite pairing superseded the score, with luscious grand ronde de jambs, attitude pirouettes, torso undulations, arabesques en pointe. In Linea Recta , (2016), choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa has managed to pay homage to flamenco dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries in Spain. She modernizes the form featuring amazing partnering for eight dancers with music by Eri
Read more

DANCE AFRICA

Image
The National Dance Company of Ghana June 1, New York, New York-- The BAM Howard Gilman Opera House hosted DanceAfrica Festival 2023, entitled Golden Ghana: Adinkra, Ananse, and Abusua . Outdoors, a dynamic and crowded African street fair celebrated the culture and spectacle that would soon appear on stage. DanceAfrica’s Artistic Director Abdel R. Salaam hosted the National Dance Company of Ghana, the BAM Restoration Dance Youth Ensemble, and the Dance Africa Spirit Walkers. A two act performance began with Procession . First one drummer and then four more announced a pageantry of dancers, all in glorious costumes, paraded down the aisles from the back, following Candle Bearers in white. Soon children from the BAM Restoration Youth Ensemble pranced, skipped and hopped while honoring the elders, seated in the front row, who were the original founding members of DanceAfrica. DanceAfrica Spirit Walkers Memorial: The Living Adinkra , performed by DanceAfrica’s Spirit Wal
Read more

TRISHA BROWN DANCE COMPANY Review By Jonathan Matthews-Guzman For EYE ON THE ARTS

New York, New York May 10, 2023 -- Trisha Brown Dance Company has joined the pantheon of troupes with dead founders who are looking to living voices to keep their increasingly more versatilely trained bodies in fresh motion. How today’s artistic directors choose who gets to tack onto their institutional legacies is as particular as the culture of each company. The Graham Company, for instance, risks to invite contemporary choreographers who have not necessarily trained in Martha’s technique to create work in conversation with her vast archive. Interestingly, TBDC Associate Artistic Director Carolyn Lucas opted for a more conservative approach, inviting an alum. Judith Sánchez Ruíz danced under Trisha between 2006 and 2009, just missing the creation of "Rogues" in 2011, the program’s opener. At that time, Ruíz was abroad dancing for Sasha Waltz. Her premiere "Let’s Talk About Bleeding" closed the program outlining an intersection of Ruíz’s embodiment of American po
Read more