I got to see this again and it really is a marvel of a revival that will stick with me for a long time. AND I was able to see it twice for under $200 total, from good seats!
I’m not saying anything new here, but Miller wrote the ultimate portrait of people clawing their way to a middle-class life in America and it still feels like it could have been written today.
Both times, the second act is really what did it for me: Willy & Howard, Willy & Charley, Willy & Ben, Willy & Biff with the mistress, Charley’s eulogy, Laurie’s final moments, and that great gaping grave hole in the stage during the final scene. Laurie’s Linda feels of a piece with her role in LADY BIRD.
I wish it could play London but that seems unlikely given the National is slated to do it with Paul Mescal as Biff next year.
I’m grateful that Mantello, Lane, Metcalf, and whoever that producer is could make this happen after ruminating on it for 25 years.