Everyone knows Death of a Salesman. If you haven't read it than you should. If you have read it and you can't remember the joys of Biff. The Struggles of the family. The relationships that were skirting the line of complete collapse throughout each beautiful act. If you can't remember it then you should go back and re-read it. You should re-read it if you remember every last word. You should study various productions of the play. This is one of the best plays in American theater.
As good as Death of a Salesman is it surrounded by a library of supporting plays by Miller. Plays that make you see the American experience in a different way. Plays that make you realize that the American experience is unique but not apart from the human experience. Broadway productions of All My Sons and Salesman are his most critically acclaimed plays. His other works include The Crucible, A View From the Bridge, After the Fall, Incident at Vichy, The Price and The American Clock.
Miller's last known original work, Finishing the Picture, had its world premiere in fall 2004 at The Goodman Theatre. Possibly the best living director, Robert Falls, directed. Falls had this to say about the passing of Miller,
He had such joy and drive and pleasure in his work, and an engagement in the world. It never felt like working with a legend, it felt like working with a colleague. A greater fortune for me was not working on Death of a Salesman, but working on his last play Finishing the Picture. He treated them exactly the same. They were two plays where he couldn't wait to hear the laughter and applause of the audience. I feel a bit like I've lost my compass [with his passing]. His sense of the world and sense of what is right with the world was great.
He is to me one of the giants. He, along with Williams and O'Neill, created the serious American play in America. They were fortunate enough to do it at a time when the culture appreciated them on Broadway.
I think of as children of Miller - Tony Kushner, David Mamet and August Wilson. I take those three names off the top of my head as playwrights who stand on the shoulders of Arthur Miller.
I think for us in the theatre, it's not just Arthur Miller's art. It's the way Arthur Miller lived his life in the world. He defines liberal in the absolute best sense of that word. This is a man who saw the Depression, World War II, the Holocaust, the Cold War, the fall of Communism. All these events were grist for his mill. And he always wrote about these things with a moral sense. He lived the way he wrote.
Falls is right. The plays will live on forever preserving the brilliance of Miller. However, I think it is just important what Miller did for American theater. He was a revolutionary writer. He changed the way playwrights approach work. He changed the way we look at characters and approach development of plots.
I would be absolutely nothing in writing without Miller. There would be no plays and there would certainly never have been a production. If I hadn't found Miller and Kuchner then I would never have considered playwriting in the first place. If I hadn't studied every single Miller play I could get my hands on then I would not have known where to start when writing.
Not just playwrights, but everyone owes gratitude to Miller. He changed American theater for the better. He has been the influence on thousands of playwrights in America and around the world. We've lost a national treasure today but we've still got his legacy.
For a longer obituary check out the Playbill entry.
