Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Streaming Diary: The late, great Brian Dennehy in a landmark DEATH OF A SALESMAN, Irish Rep’s A TOUCH OF THE POET, and Woolly Mammoth’s telephonic HUMAN RESOURCES

• By drediman
• October 28, 2020
• No Comments

Here are my thoughts on two recent viewings and one interesting telephone call.

DEATH OF A SALESMAN
Goodman Theatre

One of the most impactful and influential experiences in all my theatergoing was Goodman Theatre’s legendary 1999 production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). With Mr. Miller’s blessing, the revival transferred to Broadway (where it was captured on film by Showtime) to great acclaim, commemorating the classic work’s 50th anniversary. At the center of the powerful production was the great Brian Dennehy as Willy Loman, one of the iconic roles in American theater. The physically imposing Mr. Dennehy, who sadly passed away earlier this year, gave a towering performance which I was lucky enough to catch twice in the theater. Both he and director Robert Falls’ fluid, noir-tinged staging brought the character’s looming existential crisis to the fore with astonishing transparency and force; I still vividly remember being deeply shaken by the experience all these years later. In the typically thankless role of Linda Loman, Elizabeth Franz brought a heartbreaking, steely determination to Willy’s long-suffering wife, illuminating the character in a whole new light. Both Ms. Franz and Mr. Dennehy garnered well-deserved Tonys for their performances, as did Mr. Falls (for his direction) and the revival itself. The top-notch cast of the Showtime capture also includes memorable contributions by Howard Witt (who is also no longer with us) as Charley, as well as Ron Elard (who replaced original cast member Kevin Anderson) and Ted Koch as Willy’s two sons, Biff and Happy. What a treat it was to relive this historic production!

A TOUCH OF THE POET
Irish Repertory Theatre

This afternoon, I streamed Irish Repertory Theatre’s revival of Eugene O’Neill’s A Touch of the Poet (RECOMMENDED). The Off-Broadway company was just days from physically mounting the play in its cozy Chelsea home before the pandemic emphatically shut down New York theaters. This week’s digital production, resourcefully directed by Ciarán O’Reilly, does a good job of bringing O’Neill’s dark, melodramatic play to life on a virtual stage (thanks in part to some solid “set” and sound design work). Set in 1828 in the Boston area, the pungent play focuses on one Cornelius Melody (better known to close associates as “Con”), an alcoholic, apparently bipolar Irish immigrant with seriously tenuous dreams of grandeur. Although it isn’t in the same league as the playwright’s masterpieces (The Iceman Cometh, Long Day’s Journey Into Night), the play is nevertheless vintage O’Neill, complete with dysfunctional family dynamics, a boatload of pipe dreams, and plenty of whiskey to wash it all down. It’s interesting that both this play and Death of a Salesman were written around the same time (although A Touch of the Poet was only first performed in 1958), given their respective fascination with deeply flawed, recklessly abusive patriarchs. Veteran stage actor Robert Cuccioli imbues Con with charisma and dashing gravitas, which makes the character’s mood swings especially jarring. The rest of the cast play off of this dangerous instability in wonderfully dramatic fashion, which is notable given the remote nature of the performances.

HUMAN RESOURCES
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

To take a break from all of this mid 20th century mythologizing of the patriarchy, I quite literally, on my cell phone, dialed Human Resources (RECOMMENDED) — that is, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Telephonic Literary Union’s ingeniously interactive marriage between theater and a pre-programmed phone line (which we are all familiar with, alas). The creative team responsible for the content of this out-of-the-box endeavor includes such talented theater artists as Brittany K. Allen, Christopher Chen, Hansol Jung, and Zeniba Now. First of all, I applaud the show’s masterminds for giving starved theatergoers a creative alternative to the familiar Zoom format we’ve been invariably subject to. The good news is that much of the writing is charmingly offbeat, offering nuggets of wisdom to help us deal with issues that may have arisen from pandemic life (e.g., isolation, financial insolvency, boredom, etc.). However, the more time I spent with Human Resources, the harder it was for me to ignore the project’s patchwork quality, as well as its eventual repetitiveness (which in part may be due to the limitations of the “phone tree” set up). Nevertheless, I had fun coming across the voices of some wonderful stalwart stage actors, including Marc Bovino, David Greenspan (who was so unexpectedly musical in Wartime Canteen for a New Era a few weeks ago), Jin Ha, Mia Katigbak, Brian Quijada, and Ikechukwu Ufomadu.