Arthur Miller’s 1949 play marked the grand closure of Aadranjali organised in the memory of BV Karanth. The play ‘The Death of a Salesman’ was staged at Antarang Hall of Bharat Bhavan on Tuesday.
Showing the worst scenarios of employees and the greediness of multinational companies, the play was directed by Ashish Shrivastava and was brilliantly performed by the artists of Chetna Thetare Troupe, Bhopal.
It was a two act play. Weaved with intense dialogues and brilliant performance, the play is divided into conversations. The conversations are in the present and from the past that flow in and out. The play encompasses an evening and the following day but is interrupted and mixed with memories or flashbacks.
Play opens with introducing Willy loman, who is an aging salesman. He is now tired with his business trips and one evening returns home really exhausted and worried. He has a wife linda and a grown up son Biff. He tells linda about Biff’s failure in not getting a steady and serious job.
Through flashbacks the audience comes to know about Billy’s present status. He is always been compared with his neighbor Charlie and son Bernard. The flashback series unfold many truths about each character making the play even more interesting. Willy has already tried suicide twice. He asks his boss to give him a non-travelling job, but instead he is fired. Biff on the other hands is dealing with his struggle of starting a business and wants loan for it. Biff fails to get a loan. What happens next gave Goosebumps to the audience.
Billy kills himself in a car accident so that Biff can use the insurance money for his business. The play was brilliantly performed on stage and was much appreciated by the audience.