Arthur Miller Centenary Season, R3

[Stanley Stewart]

Copious diary notes covering the Arthur Miller centenary and R3/R4 broadcasts.

Sunday, 11 Oct,R3 18.45-1930hrs, Speaking of New York. Ben Brantley examines the playwright's debt to his hometown, New York.

21.00- 23.20hrs, Drama on 3, Death of a Salesman with the fascinating pairing of David Suchet (Willy Loman and Zoe Wanamaker as his wife, Linda, directed by Howard Davies.

Monday, 12 Oct, - Thursday,15 Oct, R4, 14.15-15.00hrs each day: 4 day coverage of the Life and Times of Arthur Miller, starting with his early life and aspirations, concluding with Miller in his 60s, 1982, and the arrival of a mysterious visitor, who compels him to look back on his life.

Include me in!

It is only a couple of months since I transferred an off-air video, rec March '99, to DVD with Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman. Miller was glad to endorse this casting for a New York production as he felt he had the right nervous edge for the role but he also understood why 'the big beasts'. Frederic March and George C Scott were attracted to the role. I also value the BBC Omnibus, Salesman in China, and, particularly, the publication of Miller's, Salesman in Beijing, (Methuen, 1984) with full discussion on productions of the play and insights on a few changes due to different traditions in China; the casting in the Omnibus documentary was, indeed, a revelation. It would be pleasing and pertinent to see this programme again as I presume that BBC still own the rights to Omnibus.

[french frank]

Thanks for digging out those details, SS. The 'drama seasons' seem to have been much fewer than the musical immersions so this is a welcome restoration of drama to its proper place on R3.

[Stanley Stewart]

I also sense encouraging vibes re the 25th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein's death - a separate thread quite soon - I see that Archive on 4, Bernstein, my Mentor, R4, (Sat, 10 Oct), 20.00-21.00hrs, is a tribute by Marin Alsop, charting 'Lenny's' career.

[aeolium]

Thanks for that alert, SS. I didn't know - should have known - that George C Scott had played Loman in DoaS. I would have liked to have seen that as I thought he was an impressive actor. I'll certainly listen out for the R3 production. I've been put off bothering with Drama on 3 due to the incessant repeats but at least this is a new production.

[Stanley Stewart]

Of course, I should have also included the coverage of the Miller centenary by adding the nightly R3 coverage, (Mon/Fri, 12-16 Oct), the daily 15mins spot, 22.45-23.00hrs,on The Essay, - Staging Arthur Miller. Friday's edition features Tony Kushner, a Pulitzer prize-winning playwright and screenwriter, who knew Miller and recently edited his Collected Plays and discusses the importance Arthur Miller in the American theatre.

Thanks, aeolium. As I typed my response, last night, I could not instantly recall a missing name from the 'giant beasts' who also played Willy Loman. It was Lee J Cobb and like George C Scott, I could quickly envisage his intimidating presence in the role. The only time I ever saw Mr Scott on the boards was as Vershinin in the NY production of The Three Sisters, as part of the annual World Theatre Season at the Aldwych Theatre in the mid-60s, (approx). It was given a real drubbing in the press reviews and Scott refused to appear at the final curtain call. I grasped the emotional truth of the performances and could only conclude that the cadence of American speech, decidedly new world, seriously conflicted with essence of a different world. Times Square cannot co-exist alongside a family in rural Russia, pining to return to Moscow! His Willy Loman or James Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night would have been a consummation devoutly to be wished for his high definition persona.

[richardfinegold]

Miller graduated from my alma mater, the University Of Michigan. While there, he won an award given to the best student in the Department of Honors English, called the Hopwood Award.
My nephew won the same award a few years ago and we attended the dinner given in his honor. For many years Miller used to present this award and while he had passed on by this time, there were many in the Department who knew him well and we heard many interesting stories about him.

[Stanley Stewart]

I listened to the first programme on Free Thinking, last night, (7 Oct), which in 15 mins was only intended as a scene-setter. I rather envy the listener who will be hearing Death of a Salesman for the first time as I have seen the play several times since its British production in the late 1940s. Indeed, earlier in the evening, I watched a DVD of a 1999 recording with Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman in Volker Schlondorff's Broadway production, Kate Reid as Linda and John Malkovich, a subtle Biff. Last time I checked, it was still available at a modest price from the river people. Warren Mitchell also played Loman at the NT, late 70s/early 80s, with the same nervous energy of a little man, rather than the scale of a big beast.

Here, I must declare an interest as I do feel self-conscious about name-dropping but need to be clear that meeting people is a natural part of being in the West End of London's theatrical village and no-way does meeting 'names' imply that I know them, although working over 15 years in the biz often establishes a relationship. However, even knowing Sir Ralph Richardson for more than a decade, the greeting was always the same, "Hallo, old cock! as I also found a way of declining a ride on the pillion of his motor bike.

So, in the late 80s, although out of the biz for several years, I was a guest at the first night of Michael Frayn's Noises Off at the Lyric, Hammersmith - the production was a huge success and transferred to the Savoy Theatre for a long run. I was seated next to Arthur Miller, part of the same contingency and we were introduced. By no means a small-talk man or, indeed, stand-offish. At the interval bun-fight for the guests, I withdrew early and returned to my seat to read the programme. Shortly afterwards, AM returned on his tod and mentioned that he'd heard that I had played several of his roles in rep theatre: Joe Keller in All my Sons, Eddie Carbone in A View from the Bridge with Bob Hoskins as my oppo, Marco, and the Governor in The Crucible. He was keen to know the driving factor in my performances and I retorted, the conscience of an ordinary guy haunted by guilt. He sat back quietly just as the lights faded in the auditorium and I was warmed by a gentle tap on the shoulder. Only a fleeting exchange but it registered.

Listening to the Free Thinking broadcast, I also recalled the intense concentration from the auditorium when the curtain is raised on any Shakesperian production, Chekhov, or an Arthur Miller play; it's almost uncanny but indubitably it also raises the adrenaline factor and sharpens the focus of the performer. Actors are a disciplined lot and arrive punctually for the 'half', 35 mins before 'beginner's please'. The usual chatty banter ensues but there is always a sense of reserve before a classic play, a quiet undertone of preparation before the challenge ahead. Happy memories for me. I retired before midnight with a copy of AM's, 52 page novel, Plain Girl - a life, (Methuen, 1995), a beautifully crafted and delicate account of a woman's quest for personal fulfilment against a background of world crisis in the 1930s.

[french frank]

Thanks SS - usual delightful glimpse into the 'glamorous world'

[aeolium]

Thanks also from me, SS. I do wish I had managed to see Warren Mitchell in DoaS, for which he received an Olivier award. He also got a Best Supporting Actor award for a more recent performance in Miller's The Price. I always thought that though he was wonderful in Till Death Us Do Part, Mitchell's talents as a serious actor were not sufficiently exploited by the BBC and he could have been given more major parts in classic and modern drama.

[aeolium]

I thought it was a fine production of Death of a Salesman last night, with excellent performances from the two principals and good support from the rest of the cast (despite for me occasional confusion in identity in the minor roles, always a potential risk with radio drama). It seemed almost consciously a production utilizing the qualities of broadcast drama in ways that would be impossible on the stage - a lot of the dialogue almost being whispered. Suchet brought out the fragile, desperate character of Loman with volcanic eruptions of rage mixed with scenes of tenderness and short-lived joy and hope - a man, like Lear, "cut to the brains". This play undoubtedly influenced David Mamet in his classic study of cut-throat American life Glengarry Glen Ross though that focused more on the brutal competitiveness of the office than the impact on the family. What softens Miller's play for me is Linda Loman's constant love and support for her husband, so that the economic pressures do not wholly break the family - as might well happen in reality. Compare the solitary outcasts of some post-war European drama for instance, in Beckett or Pinter. Willie Loman seems more like a helpless child, more like Hjalmar in The Wild Duck, living in his own imaginary world.

A fine contribution to the Arthur Miller season

[DracoM]

Yes, a production full of nuance and pathos, well-acted, and delivered.
My only quibble was that David Suchet's accent kept slipping in and out. He did blinkering pride, wilful, frightened self-deception exceptionally well. I found myself almost shouting at the radio when he continually refused Charlie's generously and affectionately intended help.

[Stanley Stewart]

Lots of memories as I listened to the broadcast last night. In fact, it was also my baptism of fire, as my experience of the play has always been in the theatre or hearing endless monologues of Biff as a RADA student - casting director's used to groan when they heard a spoken introduction! The other favourite for students at the time was Peter Shaffer's Five Finger Exercise, now lost in the vaults.

The R3 broadcast did the play proud and how well today's players have grasped the changes in radio technique. Of course, the standard has always been consistently high but changes in the technique of projection, aided by DAB technology, have effectively fostered radical rethinking in so many respects. I admired the ability of the cast to engage in a lowered more intimate intensity which instantly released the energy in Miller's strong ear for rhythm and variation in pace and introduced a 'living in the moment' empathy. Discounted any lapse in accent variation as the sense was clearly understood. Invidious to select the 'best' performance but Zoe Wanamaker opened my understanding of the much put-upon Linda. Her graveside eulogy was heart-rending, particularly her repeated 'I can't cry, Willy', usually this is taken literally but her need to give way to a breakdown brought a fresh insight to the closing moments of the play. Don't know whether AM would agree - he'd have been categorical on this point - but it was a revelation to me.

[ardcarp]

I thought The Sunday Feature...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06gq1b3

..was really excellent. The only play of Arthur Miller I've heard is The Crucible, and if we need to be on the lookout for witch-hunts, now's the time. Interesting that Googling The Crucible brings up a load of BBC bitesize pages; so it's obviously a set text for schools, and quite rightly so. Must catch up on Death of a Salesman.

[aeolium]

The R3 broadcast did the play proud and how well today's players have grasped the changes in radio technique. Of course, the standard has always been consistently high but changes in the technique of projection, aided by DAB technology, have effectively fostered radical rethinking in so many respects. I admired the ability of the cast to engage in a lowered more intimate intensity which instantly released the energy in Miller's strong ear for rhythm and variation in pace and introduced a 'living in the moment' empathy.

I completely agree with this, SS, and this is what makes radio drama such a compelling medium, especially of course when plays are written specifically for the medium but even when they are not. The sensitivity, nuance and intimacy possible in the medium of radio (and television, and sometimes film) have made theatre performances less attractive to me - no more bellowing so that those at the back of the gods can hear. I wish more playwrights would appreciate the imaginative and expressive potential of radio.

[johncorrigan]

On Radio 4 this afternoon caught part 2 of 'The Life and Times of Arthur Miller'...came home and listened to part 1 tonight on LA. Very enjoyable...the production and writing feel like a bit Miller in style. Most enjoyable I thought.