Theatre 120 Response 2: Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” is a very complex and interesting play. I really enjoyed reading it for a lot of different reasons, but one of the most relevant components that contribute to the complexity of this play is the concept of time. It comes up in many different ways directly and indirectly. Of course, there are the very obvious changes in time when Willy’s perspective switches from the present to the past. I thought this was a very interesting dynamic of the dialogue and plot. It was strange to get used to the fact that the reader is not really given any sort of exposition in the beginning of the play. And although at the beginning I didn’t think I would like it, I ended up enjoying it. It was kind of like the entire story was unfolding before your eyes and you’re given clues and background information throughout the story instead of at the beginning. It was like discovering little secrets! Additionally, it helped develop Willy as a character and helps the reader understand why he is the way that he is. I also enjoyed learning about the scenery today in class. I think that the scenery used in the stage production of “Death of a Salesman” was ingenious! It was very cool how they used the production element of lighting to set almost the entire scene for the actors. Although it really isn’t something that is thought of for scenery, it was a simplistic and fantastically easy design that worked perfectly with how Miller wanted this story to be portrayed.

Theatre 120 Response 1: Fires in the Mirror

Anna Deavere Smith's Fires in the Mirror was unlike any play that I have read before. The concept of one actor or actress portraying twenty-six different characters in one play seemed interesting, but once I started to read the play, I was not a fan of the format. I thought that the way that the information was presented was very choppy and extremely hard to follow. In the beginning of the play, it was hard to tell how the information all was fitting together. I did not like that we had no information about what types of questions were asked in the interview and what prompted the response that we were hearing from the author. Towards the end of the play though, I liked that we were actually getting information from people that had witnessed the accident and were getting different perspectives on what had actually gone on that day. Although I did not enjoy the format at all, I did however like some of the individual characters and stories. The story "Hair" as told by the Anonymous Girl was one of my favorites. I felt like it really spoke to some of the interracial issues that we are still dealing with today. Additionally, I enjoyed the "Heil Hitler" story. It really put into perspective the magnitude of the hatred and feelings of anti-Judiasm going on during this time in this are. Overall, I would say that this was definitely not one of my favorite plays and wouldn't really be interested in reading another play in this format.