While I don’t normally cover the theater beat here at The Daily Free Press, I thought today I’d make an exception and a critique. I was so struck by a play I was fortunate enough to catch a preview of this weekend.
I just had to write about it in the hopes that you, dear reader, might venture out of your dormitory and drink the nectar of Dionysus. By which I, of course, meant theater and not alcohol, although he is the god of both.
Arthur Miller’s 1949 play, Death of a Salesman is surely a classic of our time. Already it’s been lauded as one of the best dramas ever written and was the first play in history to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. It has made countless women cry and countless men suddenly get something in their eyes. It has even been mentioned on Seinfeld. But not until the 2006 production by the James Madison Elementary School A+ Players was this play fully realized.
When one first walks into the James Madison Elementary School Auditorium, one is immediately stunned. An audience member passing through the lobby of the theater is bombarded with great works of art: Rembrandts, van Goghs, even the Mona Lisa.
I was shocked to find that the Mona Lisa — on loan, I assume, from The Louvre — is actually crayon on watercolor paper, as are, apparently, several other great works — Starry Night, The Scream and A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist appears to be magic marker on graph paper.
Interestingly enough, these paintings in general look better in the art books.
But upon the rise of the curtain, all this beauty is forgotten and replaced with a new kind of beauty. The A+ Players, led by Mrs. Federman (fourth grade) certainly live up to their name as they draw you in and won’t let you go until you give them a snack and allow them to watch TV.
Mrs. Federman brings her own fresh new conventions to the play the level and complexity of which we haven’t seen in the theater since Brecht.
Devices such as having Biff (Timmy Smith, fifth grade) say all his lines facing straight out to the audience tell theatergoers “This is real. Don’t pretend.” Mrs. Federman even makes a cameo to this end, appearing to whisper lines to a seemingly befuddled Willy Loman (Sarah Shatz, third grade).
But the brilliant direction is only the beginning. Shatz and Smith lead an all-star cast of third to sixth graders featuring David Gainer (sixth grade); Oscar McGuey (fourth grade); and Bethany Shatz (third grade), Sarah’s twin sister, as the lamp.
The acting, wonderfully indicating and masterfully dry, is a testament to Mrs. Federman’s vision of what she calls “Life Theater.” We’re showing life. It’s, uh, it’s not supposed to be theater-y.”
Mrs. Federman’s direction is supported by a breathtaking set, designed and constructed by Joey Turnham’s dad entirely out of refrigerator boxes nailed to two-by-fours, a stark reminder of the cold life Willy Loman lived.
The set was painted by Secretary Beverly and Nurse Jean, who studied art history together at Worcester Community College before joining the education industry.
Joey Turnham’s dad’s work turns out to have both form and function in the third scene of act two when the entire set seemingly careens down on top of the actors, punctuating a particularly powerful line of Shatz’s.
On a less positive note, lighting design by Custodian Ned left something to be desired.
Although I can see the point he is trying to make by leaving certain areas of the stage completely dark, his choices are too bold and begin to distract from the superior acting of Shatz and Smith.
It is one thing to suggest an idea through lighting, Custodian Ned, and quite another to hammer that idea into our heads.
On the other hand, Mrs. Federman’s brother-in-law’s sound design was intelligent enough to more than make up for the loss in lighting.
Mrs. Federman’s brother-in-law chose a sound selection ranging from the Beatles to “The Safety Dance” that served to brilliantly underscore the drama of the play.
The fact that the songs were not period brought us back to Mrs. Federman’s concept of Life Theater.
Please, even if you don’t consider yourself a theatergoer, take a chance on the James Madison Elementary School A+ Players.
Death of a Salesman runs for two performances, 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. this Saturday.
Admission is free for PTA members and $25 for non-members.
If you absolutely cannot attend, check out the A+ Players next venture, Eugene O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms, going up this spring at the new black box space in the cafeteria.