Theater Review: 'Death of a Salesman' at Hartford Stage

Hartford Stage is presenting “Death of a Salesman,” a 1949 play written by Arthur Miller through March 29. The playwright received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1949 for this play. Artistic Director Melia Bensussen directs production with a learned eye. The Hartford Stage Managing Director believes that this play “endures because it asks timeless questions about ambition, dignity, family and belonging.”

The action of the show is set in Brooklyn in the late 1940s, as well as various places and times in Willy Loman’s mind. Connecticut audiences will notice a reference to Waterbury and several mentions of Hartford in the script.

The director notes in the printed program that “Miller’s original title was ‘The Inside of His Head,’ and he imagined the entire set looking like a man’s skull, illuminating Willy’s mine, his memories, his losses. We witness how he feels his life unraveling, his own self discarded, and his great fear that he is leaving nothing of meaning substance behind.”

Peter Jacobson brings the 63-year-old traveling salesman Willy Loman to life in his Hartford Stage debut, shining a light on the sense of alienation that his character feels as he unravels. The actor received his education at Brown University and Julliard.

Adrianne Krstansky does admirable work in the role of Willy’s devoted and long-suffering wife and the mother of his two sons. Krstansky appeared in “The Art of Burning” at Hartford Stage.

Max Katz plays the lothario son Happy in his Hartford Stage debut. Samuel H. Levine is memorable in the role of Willy’s disillusioned elder son Biff in his Hartford Stage debut. Levine appeared in “The Inheritance” on Broadway.

In his Hartford Stage debut, Paul Michael Valley gives a strong performance in the supporting role of the Lomans’ kind neighbor Charley. Willy’s only friend. Valley is credited in a program insert. The Juilliard-trained actor appeared in the Broadway production of “1776,” “Amazing Grace” at Goodspeed Musicals and the soap “Another World.”

Stephen Cefalu, Jr., a Yale School of Drama MFA grad who was part of the stellar national tour of “To Kill a Mockingbird” with Richard Thomas, plays Charley’s successful son Bernard; Miller himself was the model for the young Bernard. Michael Cullen takes on the role of the late Uncle Ben in his Hartford Stage debut.

Nora Eschenheimer makes her Hartford Stage debut in the roles of “The Woman” and one of the young women at The Chop House, Letta.

Rebecca Strimaitis, who has appeared on the regional stages of Westport Country Playhouse and Goodspeed Musicals, covers the roles of Charley’s secretary Jenny and Miss Forsythe, while Patrick Zeller appears as Howard Wagner, Willy’s young boss, and the waiter Stanley in his Hartford Stage debut.

The scenic design by Sara Brown features a metal outline of the Loman house backed by a busy background, with pieces of furniture dragged in and out and some pieces dropping down into the space. There is also some use of trap doors in the floor of the stage.

The costumes designed by Harry Nadal suit the characters and the 1940s, especially with the excellent wig, hair and make-up design by J. Jared Janas. The lighting design by Matthew Richards helps the play frequently shift between the present and Willy’s memories, as does the sound designed by Darron L. West. Ted Hewlett worked as the fight director and Julie Foh helped the actors as the dialect and voice coach. At times, the rapid delivery of overlapping lines make it difficult to decipher what is being said.

The performance of the two-act tragedy runs 2 and a half hours with one intermission. Death of a Salesman runs through March 29. Get tickets at hartfordstage.org/death-of-a-salesman