Death of a Salesman at Lyric Stage Co.

Truthful Sales

by Paige Beede

Spiro Veloudos’s rendition of Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman brought ordinary characters to life. The family dynamic was filled with tension shown through the actor’s connections with one another on stage. Ken Baltin, playing the main character Willie Loman, was able to create truthful chemistry between his character and his character’s wife and sons, Linda, Biff and Happy Lomen, played by Paula Plum, Kelby T. Akin and Joseph Marrella. Baltin did a seamless portrayal of a father and husband in need of recognition for his thirty years of hard work. He was able to hide emotions such as greed and eagerness as his character wanted to seem caring and optimistic on the outside. He was still able to show those feelings though through his actions and interactions with other characters such as his associates and siblings, but able to hide them in front of his wife and boys.

The set of this rendition added to the realism of the play. The set was a house with a kitchen, a master bedroom, a small hallway and stairs leading up to another bedroom. The stairs separated this the set from other interpretations of this play that has been around for a while. The first act mainly took place inside the house with occupational flashback scenes that supposedly took place in the yard, which was played in front of the house part of the stage. The second act was a combination of inside the house and of different location such as an office and a restaurant, both set up where the yard was in the first act. The lack of form to the set in the scenes of act two was disappointing in comparison to the house set. Usually there is set change during intermission but that was absent in this piece. Overall, this performance was incredibly truthful which made the play itself relatable and interesting to watch.