Death of a Salesman

Frankfurt is probably the most Americanized city in Germany. A big part of that is because much of the city was destroyed during WWII, and many western dollars were spent rebuilding it after the war. However, the local government spends a lot of money to maintain the German culture and heritage.

One of the ways it does this is by heavily subsidizing Opera and Theater. Today after class, a few of us went to a small theater in downtown Frankfurt to see Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, in German of course. Tickets were only $7.

It was a small production with a single set consisting of 6 feet of stage and brick wall backdrop. All the actors stayed on the stage the entire time, even when they weren't in the scene. I noticed a couple things about this particular production:

First, the main character's name is Willy. Naturally, being Germans, they pronounced his name "Villy," which brought a smile to my face every time.

There was also a scene between Willy and his mistress, showing their affair. Now in American theater, this would be normally be a low-lit scene with maybe a bed, some sheets rustling and a fade to black. Not here.

There was a few seconds pause for the audience to imagine Willy and the woman were in a different room, and then Willy and the woman just started to take off their clothes.

So we're left with 5 actors standing on stage, leaning against the brick backdrop and trying to look like they're not part of the scene, and Willy and the woman half-naked. Willy then gives the audience a weird look (I think it was supposed to be passion?), takes off her bra, hugs her for about 3 seconds, and the scene is over.

And, because the actors stay on stage, the woman goes center stage and doesn't get her robe back until a few scenes later. Willy dresses, she doesn't.

The funniest part? The audience's reaction. No, not when she went topless, but when she initially started de-robing. The woman, well, apparently lives more on the larger side of life.

I don't remember that being in the original production.