Modesto's Prospect tackles ‘Death of a Salesman’

Death, taxes and Arthur Miller plays seem to be a universal part of modern life.

With its production of “Death of a Salesman,” Modesto’s Prospect Theater Project combines two of life’s seeming inevitabilities. Arguably Miller’s most famous and ubiquitous play, done by everything from professional theater companies to high school drama departments, the piece won both the Pulitzer Prize for drama and Tony Award for best play for 1949.

Yet it has been 25 years since a community or professional theater company has staged the work in Modesto. Prospect Theater regular David Barbaree will direct the production and said he hopes people come to see the famous work with fresh eyes.

“You try to stop people’s expectations because the title – I wish they’d called it ‘Life of a Salesman’ because that’s what it really is about,” Barbaree said. “It is about this tremendous life he has lived.”

The cast of 12 actors includes mostly Prospect veterans. Prospect founding artistic director Jack Souza steps into the well-worn shoes of the show’s titular salesman, Willy Loman. The show revolves around Loman’s family, particularly his sons. It stars local theater veteran Jenni Abbott as Loman’s wife, Linda. His sons will be played by Joel Morrison as older brother Biff and Joshua Palafox as younger brother Happy.

Rounding out the cast are Tom Solomon as Uncle Ben; Michael Hewitt and Andrew Brown as neighbor Charley and his son Bernard; Michael Houston as Willy’s boss, Howard; Katherine Zagone; James Kusy; Amanda Schemmel; and Lexi Silva.

“It’s a tremendous story to tell, and our actors, Jack and Jenni, seem like they’ve been preparing to play these roles for years,” Barbaree said. “We were incredibly lucky that we had very capable and experienced actors interested in being in this play, even if they had small roles. They’re all experienced and capable enough to be able to carry a show themselves.”

This is only the second Miller play Prospect has tackled over the years. The first was his second-to-last play, “The Ride Down Mt. Morgan,” written in the early 1990s. Souza said “Death of a Salesman” fits perfectly into the company’s overall theme this season.

“The whole season is using theater to look at questions of personal responsibility – for who we are, for the manner in which we live in this world and, by extension, for the world in which we live,” he said.

“ ‘Salesman’ is a fascinating play, through that lens. Many regard the play as an indictment of the American dream, but Willy’s tragedy is his own – his own and many of ours. Namely, it is the belief that spiritual needs can be met with material goods. This is the fallacy so grossly exploited by the most powerful elite of modern capitalistic society. ‘Salesman’ expresses this so tenderly, humanely and poignantly, it was an easy choice for the season.”

While the play takes place over a 24-hour period, it is told with flashbacks to Willy’s past and memories of important moments. The Prospect production will be set in 1949, like the original play, and center around the family’s kitchen table. Barbaree said there will be no walls, and the stage will extend into the audience, giving them an incredibly close and intimate view into the family’s life.

Willy’s expectations and disappointments, with himself and his sons, fuel most of the show’s drama. While the show’s themes are often interpreted to be about the death of the American dream, Barbaree said that aspect interested him less than its emotional impact.

“The things that do interest me are the values and what they hold dearly – what are the things most precious in life,” he said. “It’s a timeless piece. You always have people identify with Willy, with Linda, with the children, with the neighbors. Some people say they don’t know if they’ll like it because it seems so depressing, but I find it a very uplifting story.”

Barbaree said the show’s universality, despite being written about a specific time in response to pending the baby-boom generation, is a tribute to Miller’s writing. Like one of his other famous plays, “The Crucible,” “Death of a Salesman” continues to touch audiences all over the world.

“This is a really rare opportunity to work with such purely masterful writing,” Barbaree said. “Arthur Miller was surprised by how enduring his plays were. He thought no one would care about ‘The Crucible’ after the McCarthy hearings were over. He thought no one would care about ‘Death of a Salesman’ after baby boomers had settled into a norm. But what we’ve found is what these characters say and feel are universal, people seeing it and identifying with it. Audiences are still moved by it.”

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 10:18 AM with the headline "Modesto's Prospect tackles ‘Death of a Salesman’."