A brilliant, breathtaking, and emotionally exhausting production. Antony Sher is pitch perfect as the exhausted and bewildered Willy Loman chasing the elusive American Dream and its promise of wealth, respect and popularity. Linda, (a superbly paced delivery by Harriet Walter) whose soothing placatory tones at the beginning of the play build to a speech of great emotional power as she defends her embattled husband to his disillusioned sons.
At times the play is excruciatingly painful, no more so than when Willy and his elder son Biff (played by the excellent Alex Hassell) tear in to each other in scenes of anger and desperation that are so authentic they make the audience hold its collective breath.
Meanwhile, Sam Marks’s Happy counterpoints his brother’s agonised search for meaning with a convincing portrayal of the superficiality of the younger brother enjoying the girls and the flash suits while living rent free and without commitments.
Stephen Brimson Lewis’s set and Tim Mitchell’s lighting are praiseworthy. The Brooklyn apartment blocks loom over the Loman’s house where scenes are played in parallel as the action moves from the present to various events in the past. The cleverly designed set, lighting and music enable the audience to locate the scene and understand the unfolding story.
There is wonderful support from the rest of the cast, in particular, Joshua Richards as Willy’s long suffering neighbour Charley and Brodie Ross as Bernard, Biff’s geeky and hugely underestimated friend.
A truly awesome production.
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