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L/A Arts presents an Out of the Box
Theater production
Death of a Salesman
by Arthur Miller, directed by Linda Britt
AUGUST
6, 7, 13, 14 at 7:30 pm
AUGUST
8, 15 at 2 pm
at
The DownStage at
L/A Arts
# 5 Canal Street Alley,
Lewiston, Maine
(for directions on-line use "8 Pine Street, Lewiston, Maine 04240")
advance
tickets: $10; at the door $12 Seating is quite limited.
NOTE: Friday, Aug 13 is SOLD OUT
About The Play
Following their success with the Moss Hart award winning production of "Medea"
in 2009 and their sell-out production of "Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington" in
February, Out of the Box Theater Company is presenting another theatrical
classic, Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" directed by Linda Britt.
Called "The Great American Tragedy," the play tells the story of Willy Loman,
a man who is all too human in his attempts to live the American Dream, and
who thus ultimately fails.
Mark
Hazard plays Willy Loman and Cheryl Reynolds plays his wife, Linda. The
sons are played by Matt Delamater (Biff) Paul Menezes (Happy). Stan
Spilecki is Ben, Willy’s older brother. Patricia Phillips is seen as the
other woman. Gerry Therrien is Charley, the neighbor and John Blanchette is
Howard, Willy’s boss. Michael Litchfield is the Loman brothers’ childhood
friend, Bernard, and the butt of their teasing.
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The Other Woman is portrayed by Patricia
Phillips in a scene with Willy Loman (Mark Hazard.) photo credit: Rachel
Morin |
Bernard, family friend, (Michael Litchfield) comforts
Willy (Mark Hazard) as the fading salesman sees his life as a total
failure. photo credit: Rachel Morin |
"Death
of a Salesman" is set in New York City in 1949, in the Loman house, the lone
remnant of a Brooklyn neighborhood now hemmed in by apartment buildings that
dwarf the home and suck the sunshine so that even a little garden is
impossible.
Willy,
aged 63, also finds himself a relic of a bygone culture of personality in
sales. Every day is a struggle. Linda has loyally supported, encouraged,
and loved Willy through everything; she sees his flaws clearly but loves him
anyway. Their two sons, Biff and Happy, are both lost in their own ways.
Neither is a source of hope for their aging parents.
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Biff Loman (Matt Delamater) and his brother
Happy (Paul Menezes) tease Bernard (Michael Litchfield) who is the
target of their many jokes. photo credit: Rachel Morin
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The
play tells the story of the last 24 hours of Willy's life, filling in the
back story with flashbacks and Willy's imaginary ("private") conversations.
The
set and light designs are by Stan Spilecki. Jackie McDonald is producing
the show, Sue Brown is costuming, Rachel Morin is handling publicity, and
the entire Out of the Box Company is committed to making Death of a Salesman
a memorable theatrical experience.
L/A
Arts' Downstage venue is the setting for the play, which opens August 6 at
7:30 p.m. Other performances are August 7 at 7:30, August 8 at 2 p.m.,
August 13 and 14 at 7:30 p.m., and August 15 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10, and
may be purchased by calling 782-7228. Seating is very limited; it is
recommended that tickets be ordered early, as OOTB has been selling out many
performances.
About Director Linda Britt
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Linda Britt, director.
photo credit: Rachel Morin |
Linda Britt is a Maine
playwright whose works have been performed by Community Little Theatre,
Freeport Community Players, and at the MEACT Festival. “Let Me Count the
Ways” is published in At Play: An Anthology of Maine Drama. “Americana,” her
collection of one-act plays, premiered in 2008. She is a founding member of
Out of the Box Theater Company, which received the Moss Hart Award for
Community Theatre for its production of "Medea" in 2009. She
subsequently wrote and directed the well received play, "Mrs. Smith Goes to
Washington." Linda has also
directed several plays locally at CLT, including "The Foreigner," "I Hate
Hamlet," "Proof," and "The Laramie Project." When she is not doing theater,
Linda is a Professor of Spanish at the University of Maine at Farmington.
Her family is replete with artists and performers, from her husband Stan
Spilecki to all their children, Colin, Rachel, Becca, and Sydney.
About Out of the Box
Theater Company
In the summer of 2008,
a group of theater devotees (actors, directors, and designers) came
together to found a new theater company. The founders shared a common
vision. Their goal was to produce plays, particularly classics and original
works, that challenge the artists as well as the audiences.
Because the company had
no permanent home and needed to carry its sets and costumes to its venues,
and because of its commitment to produce work that audiences don't often
see at community theaters, they became "Out of the Box Theater Company."
Their first production
was "Americana," an evening of original one-act plays based on Norman
Rockwell paintings. This production attracted the community's attention,
and their next project became a collaboration with The Public Theatre, a
musical version of "Little Red" presented to invited school audiences.
In the summer of 2009
Out of the Box began a collaboration with L/A Arts, helping to turn their
basement into a black box performance space for a late-summer production
of "Medea," which received The Moss Hart award. Subsequently
the company has utilized the space for a staged reading of "The Goodbye
Girls," and the original play, "Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington," written and
directed by Linda Britt, which sold out 4 of the 6 performances.
NOTE: Friday, Aug 13 is SOLD OUT
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