Death Of A Salesman At Oberlin
"I have felt for a long time that Universities were potentially capable of opening exhilarating perspectives for modern theatre, and not as academic exercises. The central fact is that they contain an audience which is seeking rather than jaded, open to fresh experience rather than nostalgic for what it has comfortably known... the problem has been their separation from the professional artists, a separation that impoverishes both."
-Arthur Miller, 1974
Watch the trailer:
››› Click here to view additional videos
Directed by Justin Emeka '94, an assistant professor of theater and African-American studies at Oberlin, this Death of a Salesman — performed with a mixed-race cast — intends to bring new light to Miller's powerful portrait of how the American dream turns into a nightmare for one man and his family.
Avery Brooks, the distinguished stage, film and television actor known for his celebrated performances in roles from the classics to science fiction, will portray Willy Loman in this radical new interpretation of Arthur Miller's modern classic.
Oberlin's Death of a Salesman will step beyond the margins of standard-issue color-blind casting, boldly embracing nontraditional casting that incorporates the race and ethnicity of the actor into the role he or she is playing. All members of the Loman family are African-American; the woman with whom Willy has an affair is white; and the characters of Charley and Bernard are depicted as Jewish immigrants who fled Eastern Europe during the rise of the Third Reich.
››› more
"I have felt for a long time that Universities were potentially capable of opening exhilarating perspectives for modern theatre, and not as academic exercises. The central fact is that they contain an audience which is seeking rather than jaded, open to fresh experience rather than nostalgic for what it has comfortably known... the problem has been their separation from the professional artists, a separation that impoverishes both."
-Arthur Miller, 1974
Watch the trailer:
››› Click here to view additional videos
Directed by Justin Emeka '94, an assistant professor of theater and African-American studies at Oberlin, this Death of a Salesman — performed with a mixed-race cast — intends to bring new light to Miller's powerful portrait of how the American dream turns into a nightmare for one man and his family.
Avery Brooks, the distinguished stage, film and television actor known for his celebrated performances in roles from the classics to science fiction, will portray Willy Loman in this radical new interpretation of Arthur Miller's modern classic.
Oberlin's Death of a Salesman will step beyond the margins of standard-issue color-blind casting, boldly embracing nontraditional casting that incorporates the race and ethnicity of the actor into the role he or she is playing. All members of the Loman family are African-American; the woman with whom Willy has an affair is white; and the characters of Charley and Bernard are depicted as Jewish immigrants who fled Eastern Europe during the rise of the Third Reich.
››› more
Latest Blog Entries
DAY 18 (Tuesday, September 9) First straight six
This is yet another scene in which small aspects changed now that we were in the final space.
››› September 17, 2008 | 0 Responses
DAY 17 (Sunday, September 7) Rework End Act II, Run
The cast went through the entirety of the show off-book, onstage for the first time...
››› September 17, 2008 | 0 Responses
DAY 16 (Saturday, September 6) beginning Act II, run Act I
One could say that this scene is the crux of Death of a Salesman, because it covers nearly every facet of Willy's relationship with his sons and the roles each man plays in relationship to the other
››› September 17, 2008 | 0 Responses
››› view all entries
DAY 18 (Tuesday, September 9) First straight six
This is yet another scene in which small aspects changed now that we were in the final space.
››› September 17, 2008 | 0 Responses
DAY 17 (Sunday, September 7) Rework End Act II, Run
The cast went through the entirety of the show off-book, onstage for the first time...
››› September 17, 2008 | 0 Responses
DAY 16 (Saturday, September 6) beginning Act II, run Act I
One could say that this scene is the crux of Death of a Salesman, because it covers nearly every facet of Willy's relationship with his sons and the roles each man plays in relationship to the other
››› September 17, 2008 | 0 Responses
››› view all entries
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