Page 28 - 1977 VES Meteor

2
THE METEOR
June 2
'
J977
'
VOLUME LIX, NO. 8
"Death Of A Salesman" was an immense success when it opened in New York in 1950, and it brought its writer Arthur Miller to widespread acclaim and literary prominence. It has been revived several times over the years, and is currently in production for a television special with Laurence Olivier in the lead role.
Mr. Hopkins, drama director at V.E.S., selected "Death Of A Salesman" for the Drama Club's spring production, and the results are well worth seeing. Hopkins has selected a well- rounded cast, and the performances are moving and believable.
The emotional weight of the play is carried by the four central characters. They are Willy Loman, his wife Linda, and their
sons, Biff and Willy.
Mike Blakey, in the role of
Willy the salesman, keeps the play moving in a truly fine performance. So effective is his acting that one really forgets that he has a British accent. He portrays Willy's many moods
and faces: a doting father; an unfaithful husband; a ladies' man; a frustrated failure; and a
fretful, suicidal depressive.
Blakey changes the images with ease, and is quite believable in
'the part.
J ulia Owen is also quite good in the role of Linda -- frail, caring, devoted, but strong-
willed as she struggles to keep her family together. Dressed in dowdy clothes and wearing unattractive make-up, Miss Owen must rely entirely on her acting ability to carry her role, and she does a good job of it-
Bill Sanford, not inexper- ienced with drama here at school
(he starrea at George in last year's "Of Mice and Men"), dominates each scene in which he appears. As Biff he so natural, and recites his lines with such ease -- he does not project Biff's image; he is Biff. A struggling young man, childish and disillusioned, he sees his father as no one else does.
Heth Owen perUS