Firehouse Presents DEATH OF A SALESMAN, Beginning 11/15
Firehouse Theatre Project continues its Stories from the American Inferno season with the Arthur Miller classic, Death of a Salesman, opening Thursday, November 15th. Directed by Richmond Theatre Critics Circle award-winner RusTy Wilson (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 2011; Eurydice, 2009), Death of a Salesman performs at Firehouse Theatre November 15 - December 8.
Veteran and RTCC award-winning actor Joe Inscoe (Best Actor, Eurydice, 2009) tackles the lead role of Willy Loman, a failing salesman who cannot understand how he failed to win success and happiness. Through a series of tragic soul-searching revelations of the life he has lived, we discover how his quest for the "American Dream" kept him blind to the people who truly loved him. Local stars Jackie Jones (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 2011) and Adrian Reider (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 2011) take on the roles of Willy's wife Linda and son Biff, respectively. A thrilling work of deep and revealing beauty, Miller's play remains one of the most profound classic dramas of the American theatre.
"Few roles are more challenging or profound than Willy Loman," says Inscoe, "and there's certainly no challenge I'd rather be facing. Fiercely proud, pathetically foolish, loving, abusive, laughable, lost; involuntarily adrift in time and space; doggedly grappling with the hows, whys, and what-ifs of living well, and dying well-liked, Willy has long and deservedly held his place as one of the most unique, yet universal characters in dramatic literature. How could I not have leapt at the opportunity-the privilege-of playing him, especially under RusTy Wilson's direction, and alongside the stunningly talented actors he's assembled for Firehouse's production? We're all hoping to make this a meaningful, moving, must-see contribution to Richmond theater. To quote Linda Loman, 'Attention-attention must be paid!' And Willy, 'What a sensation!' "
An American classic, Death of Salesman was written by Miller in 1948 and premiered on Broadway on February 10, 1949 at the Morosco Theatre, directed by Elia Kazan. Commercially successful and critically acclaimed, the play won a Tony Award for Best Author, the New York Drama Circle Critic's Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the first play to win all three major awards. It has since been revived on Broadway four times.
