Word: high
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Willy himself has been fooled by the picture-perfect facade of American life in the 1950s. His front-yard tales of high sales are blown apart by his wife's kitchen struggles to pay the bills. His claims of being "well-liked" in the business are revealed to be sadly exaggerated. His son Biff is devastated when confronted with the truth about his father. And a captive audience can only sit and watch as Willy's life crumbles under his feet...
...quite settled in his character's exchanges with his brother Happy (John Ducey). But Javerbaum is most convincing when it counts, and scenes between Willy and Biff convey all the stifling agony of their relationship. Javerbaum is also especially skillful in handling Biff's striking shift from a hopeful high school football hero to a disillusioned, directionless 34-year-old who feels cheated by his father's hypocritical expectations...
...only other unfortunate choice in this production is the addition of music, presumably to heighten the tension of the play. The problem is that the tension is already running excruciatingly high, and the synthesized music, often overamplified, is simply annoying. In more than one case music is used to signify an approaching flashback, and the actors seem to wait for it to end before continuing the action. Not surprisingly, this takes away some of the fluidity of the performance...
Spirits are high. Confidence is soaring. The Crimson is shooting for the Ivy League title. Things are falling into place...
Benjamin is equally ungraceful, and her character is a dancer, She wobbles in high heels, is painfully unflexible when she stretches and moves awkwardly through the all-too-generous stage space. Anna is supposed to be a fragile artist who feels deeply. Onstage, however, she is little more than vapid. Her love scenes with Burton or Pale are universally devoid of sexual energy, and the eventual fade-out to tinny music is welcome...