Death of a Salesman - Willy & Ben

By Julius Kammel & Ramona Nest

Adaptation:

In this essay, we are re-writing the scene in Act I.6. We are especially focusing on Willy ́s day-dream with his brother Ben.

First of all, we would like to give a short recap of what happened in this scene: As Willy and Charley are playing Cards, Ben appears on the stage in a semi-daydream. Willy alternates between chatting with Charley and his dead Brother. Charley, who cannot see Ben, wonders what’s going on. Finally Charley becomes irritated and leaves. Afterwards, Willy immerses himself into a memory of a visit from his brother. Linda, Biff and Happy are a part of this memory as well.

The play takes place in modern times (2013). Due to that fact, the flashbacks are transferred to the late 1970's / early 1980's. Therefore, the play has to undergo several stylistic changes.

This begins with a new setting of the stage. The kitchen represents the center of the stage (with a kitchen table in the middle; and three chairs around it). Right behind the table, there is a door to the (not seen) living room. A curtain only covers the door. In contrast to Arthur Miller's stage direction, the parent's bedroom is to be found on the left-hand side of the stage. The bedroom is placed on an elevated platform. Five steps are leading down to the kitchen. On the right-hand side of the kitchen, a wooden pull down stairs leads to the upper level, which is the boy's bedroom. There are two separate beds, each with a nightstand are to be found there. The entrance door to the house is right next to the stairs (pulled down, on the right side).

The different setting also influences the furnishing. In the parent's bedroom, one can see very noticeable wallpaper on the left side. This type of decor contains patterns with bright colors and shapes (yellow, red, orange). Its base coat is brown. The patterns give off a retro and groovy vibe. In various quarters the wallpaper seems to be rundown. A queen size bed is seen. The retro wallpaper pattern continues in the kitchen. On the left side from the door to the living room there are kitchen furnishings such as a stove and a sink unit. Here too one has the impression that the room looks a little bit down at heel. However, a very fancy modern fridge strikes one's eyes. The big old looking kitchen table is in the center of the kitchen and thus of the stage. A big orange seventies floor lamp can also be seen in the parent's bedroom. The upper level, representing the boy ́s bedroom, appears to be entirely shabby. Pieces of the wallpaper are torn off and the room looks cold and dark. Above each bed one can see a picture of Biff and Happy with their father. (Biff's bed is on the left side and Happy's bed is on the right). A part of Biff's picture with his dad is faded and torn. In addition there are old football and seductive woman posters hanging on the wall. Some of them are shopworn as well. There is a sign leaning on the back wall which says: “Welcome home daddy". But the handle of the sign is broken off.

One of the most important features in this scene is the lighting. The stage lighting is split up into two parts. The right side of the kitchen is lit in a bluish and unrealistic light. Contrary to that, the left side of it is lit in a brighter and friendlier way. The other rooms are rarely lit. In the parent’s bedroom the big orange lamp marks the only source of light in this room.

Moreover, the costumes of the characters play an essential role for the understanding of this particular scene. As a person fully living in the present, Charley wears stylish jeans and a t- shirt (Football-Ravens Final Shirt). He seems to be in a good shape for his age. In contrast, Willy wears an old suit with a broad tie and a pair of glasses, which he takes off every time he talks to people from the past. His hair is peppered grey. Willy seems to be tired and troubled. In this scene his wife Linda appears as an illusion. She is much younger and her hair is dark and a little longer than in reality. It’s coiffed in a permanent wave with a red hairband on it. Her dress is long with shoulder pads and has red and yellow pattern. Ben, also appearing in the day-dream, wears a jungle-outfit (ranger-style) with a hat and a red neck scarf. He is a handsome good looking man in his mid- thirties. Biff is dressed in a football-outfit, carrying a football under his arm. He is chewing gum and is wearing a baseball-cap. His physical appearance bears resemblance to his uncle. Biff ́s little brother Happy wears light blue bell-bottoms and a big white shirt. His hair is spiked up with gel.

Analysis:

Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” covers many themes which are still relevant today. Since the performance is held for a contemporary audience, we decided to transfer the whole play to this day and age. As a result, everyone in the audience has the chance to identify the issues shown in this play. As a consequence, the flashbacks take place in late 1970s/early 1980s. This change also has an effect on the character’s costumes and the setting of this stage. We have decided to split the stage into two parts: the left part of the stage represents the reality, whereas the right side underlines Willy ́s flashbacks.

Because there are no flashbacks in the parent ́s bedroom, we decided to put this room on the left side of the stage. The conversation between Willy, his brother and the rest of the family is set in a flashback which is set right- hand side of the stage. This separation of reality and illusion becomes even more obvious in the use of lighting. The left side of the kitchen is illuminated in a bright and friendly way. In contrast the right side is kept bluish- grey, which creates a dubious and unrealistic atmosphere. The kitchen table in the center of the whole stage marks the virtual interface of these two unequal lighting concepts.

In our chosen scene, the kitchen table plays an important role. For example, every time Charley and Willy play cards, Ben appears on stage. As a person fully living in the present, Charley stays on the brighter lit left side, whereas Ben, as an illusion, ought to be only on the right side. Willy is the one who is torn between both worlds. That ́s why he sits in the middle of the table at the point of intersection – between real and unreal. Overall the audience gets the impression that the Loman ́s house does not really fit into the modern times. This is distinctly marked by the furniture of the late 70s, such as the retro wallpaper and the floor lamp in the parent ́s bedroom. The walls seem battered and rather derelict. Nevertheless, the extremely new and fancy refrigerator catches the audience ́s eye. This is a striking example for Willy ́s materialistic values. Even though the family cannot really effort such an expensive item, they bought it anyway. The family’s to create the picture of a happy family. This idea is framed in Biff’s and Happy’s room. The picture on the wall of Willy and his two sons underline this attempt. But at the same time the difference between the two boys becomes clear. Happy ́s picture is still intact, while Biff ́s is torn off half way through. The inner conflict with his dad, who betrayed his wife Linda, destroyed his picture of the perfect father. The broken sign also mirrors the disillusion. The football posters, which represent Biff’s glory days in high school and the woman posters, which refer to Happy’s qualities as a womanizer, illustrate that the family still thinks of the good old days and is not willing to accept that time has moved on.

The issue of the past is represented in the character ́s costumes. Ben represents the absolute illusion. He is never leaving the right side of the play, which is another reason why the entrance door has to be situated in this section. His jungle-outfit underlines the unrealistic mood he is spreading. To make this even more obvious, we decided to make Ben much younger. He is a strong and handsome man in his mid-thirties who expresses a certain arrogance and ignorance. He achieved all of Willy’s values in a very young age and therefore behaves as superior.

Willy marks the person who is caught in the middle. He is neither a character of the past, nor is he fully living in the present. That’s the reason why is wearing a timeless suit. The only object that changes him from reality to illusion is his pair of glasses. Every time Willy is having an imaginary conversation with a character, his glasses are off. In the scene with Charley and Ben, Willy is sitting in the middle of the table, representing the two sides of the stage. When Charley leaves, the whole scene continues on the right side of the stage.

Since the flashbacks take place in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Linda wears a 70s dress. Her hair is supposed to be dark and a little longer than in the present, to refer to the conversation she had with Biff. Her son mentioned that he does not like the fact, that his mother’s hair is grey in the present.

Biff wears a football outfit, which again refers to his glory days as the captain of the high school football team. His constant chewing of gum gives a hint on his slight arrogance. In his way of acting one can refer to Ben’s self-confidence.

His little brother Happy wears fashionable clothing so he can feel well liked and accepted. This is very important to him. Nevertheless, Happy is wearing a shirt, which is far too big. This should underline the change he undergoes to become physically attractive (“I’m losing weight, you noticed, pop?”) Next to his brother, he still appeals unnoticed. This should point out a certain resemblance to the way his father Willy behaves when his brother Ben is present.

In contrast to all the characters described above, Charley is – besides Willy – the only “real” person in this scene. Since he is fully living in the present, he is simply wearing jeans. His shirt is a Ravens final shirt, since they won the Super-Bowl this year. His appearance shows how superior he is to Willy. He had the right dreams and is part of the winning team.

Death of a (German) Salesman

By Jasmina Baghdadi, Leona Flach, and Maike Niehues

Adaptation:

Linda is cleaning the kitchen while Wilhelm is drinking coffee and reading the Berliner Morgenpost. There is a fridge and a washing machine at the back of the stage. Just above the washing machine there is a shelf with trophies of K.O.'s soccer tournaments. The lighting centers on the trophies. Linda is cleaning one of the trophies.

LINDA: Every time I see the trophy it reminds me of the success K.O. had in soccer.
WILHELM (staring at the trophy): If only he had done that one penalty shot in this game... Everybody used to wave at him when he entered the field.

The light changes colors. It turns yellow and orange and focuses on the kitchen table. Beethoven's fifth symphony is heard. K.O., Harald and Bernard enter the kitchen through the wall talking loudly and excitedly. Harald and Bernard are arguing.

BERNARD: K.O., I'm carrying your soccer shoes, ain't I?
HARALD: No, I'm carrying them. I'm your brother, K.O.!
K.O.: Bernard, you can carry my water bottle.
YOUNGER WILHELM: You're comin' home this afternoon captain of the Junior Hertha BSC soccer team. There're gonna be talent scouts of the Sporthochschule Cologne, you know! One day you're gonna be a well-known and liked soccer player.
K.O.: I got it, pop. Every muscles's ready. When I take of my shirt this goal's for your.
YOUNGER WILHELM: When this game is over, Harald, you'll be so proud of your brother. They'll be calling him another Otto Rehhagel. A million a year!

The light centers on the trophies again. Meanwhile, Linda is doing laundry.

WILHELM (dreaming): If only he had done that one penalty shot...
LINDA (more or less talking to herself): It must have been so disappointing for him so that he didn't even bother to graduate. If he would have gotten his Abitur he could have gone off to university. Why did he not finish summer class in the first place?
WILHELM (annoyed): What do I know? Would you just let me finish my coffee, please?

Linda is putting Wilhelm's coat in the washing machine checking the pockets beforehand.

LINDA (holding up a leopard print thong): What's this? It's not mine!

The light turns into red focusing on the front stage. The Loman's house is left in darkness. Wilhelm unbuttoning his shirt walks to the front of the stage joining the Woman who entered through the wall. They meet in a hotel room in Bonn. Mozart's “The piano sonata number 16” in C-major is heard. The Woman is laughing. She is in a black slip; he is buttoning his shirt.

YOUNGER WILHELM: Will you stop laughing? Will you stop?

K.O. is knocking on an imagined door. The knock is heard.

THE WOMAN: Aren't you going to answer the door.
YOUNGER WILHELM: I'm not expecting anybody.
THE WOMAN: But I felt the knocking. And he heard us talking in here. Maybe the hotel's on fire!
YOUNGER WILHELM (stressed): All right, stay in the bathroom here, and don't come out. It may be the new room clerk. So don't come out.

The Woman goes into the bathroom. Wilhelm walks to the imagined door and opens it. The light follows him. K.O. enters the room carrying a suitcase. The music is gone.

WILHELM: What are you doing in Bonn, K.O.?
K.O.: I called you. Dad – I let you down.
WILHELM: What do you mean?
K.O.: Dad...
WILHELM: K.O., what's this about? (Putting his arm around K.O.) Come on, let's go downstairs and get you a malted.
K.O.: I haven't got enough credits to graduate. I only got four points. You gotta talk to my teacher before they close school. Because if he saw the kind of man you are, and you just talked to him in your way, I'm sure he'd come through for me. He'd like you, Pop.
WILHELM: You're on. We'll drive right back. Let's hurry downstairs and -

A loud noise coming from the bathroom is heard.

K.O.: Is somebody in there?

The Woman enters laughing. K.O. stares at her open-mouthed.

THE WOMAN: Where're the panties you promised me, Wilhelm?
WILHELM: For God's sake, will you get outa here?
K.O. (reproachfully): Didn't you buy some for mom? She always said she wanted some.
WILHELM: Now look, K.O., when you grow up you'll understand about these things. You mustn't overemphasize something like this. Let's go see your teacher.
K.O.: Never mind! He wouldn't listen to you anyway.

The light focuses on the kitchen table. Wilhelm goes back to sit at the table. K.O. and the Woman leave the stage through the wall. Linda is still holding up the thong.

LINDA (loudly): Wilhelm, I'm talking to you! What's this?

Analysis:

In the play ”Death of a Salesman“ by Arthur Miller the contrast between success and failure is depicted. Themes are not only displayed through the achievement in the protagonist's job as a salesman but also in his family life. Willy Loman seeks success in every aspect of his life.

One reason why we choose the football game scene and the affair scene is because of the stark contrast of success and failure. Moreover, they demonstrate the disconnection between the father and his son Biff. The football game scene introduces the audience to a harmonic family life where Biff admirers his father eminently and vice versa. In contrast, the affair scene highlights how the relationship between father and son breaks apart demonstrating failure with regard to relationships between father and son and between father and mother as well as the failure of material achievements and social recognition.

In our scene we decided to rename the characters in order to fit it for a German audience. Willy and Harold receive their German counterpart names Wilhelm and Harald respectively while Linda and Bernard stay the same as these are also common German names. With Biff's name we were a bit more creative. To biff is another verb for to box. As we associated K.O. (knock out) with boxing we decided to choose this as his short name. However, it actually stands for Kurt Oskar which we would have explained if we would have had written the full play.

In order to make it easy to understand we have decided to analyze our scene chronologically. We split our scene into five parts where the first one is a conversation between Linda and Willy leading to Willy's memory of Biff's soccer career. The audience is then led back to the present where Linda finds a thong not belonging to her. This introduces another of Willy's flashbacks. Following this Willy is drawn back into the present by Linda's accuses.

In our first part we have included the Berliner Morgenpost in order to indicate the city the Lomans live in. As Willy sees success as one of the most important aspects in life we have decided to place the trophies in the kitchen which are representative of success. Furthermore, we have changed football into soccer as soccer is the most popular sport activity in Germany. We copied Miller's idea of highlighting important occurrences by lighting the trophies.

We have intensified the lighting in the second part by changing the color into yellow and orange in order to underline the glory of the soccer game. Moreover, we changed the lighting suggesting Willy's flashbacks. As the flute is always emphasizing these flashbacks we decided to copy this. However, we used Beethoven's music instead; so, it fits the German audience better. In the fourth part we used Mozart as to keep up the variety of German composers. Furthermore, we copied the idea of walking through walls which Miller had. In the play Happy and Bernard want to carry the helmet and the shoulder guards. We changed this into soccer shoes and water bottle due to the fact that Biff is playing soccer. In Germany schools do not pay as much attention to sport activities as American schools do which is why Biff is captain of a local soccer club. It is also less common that students receive sport scholar ships. Thus, we introduced talent scouts of the Sporthochschule Cologne instead. In “Death of a Salesman” Willy always refers to the idea of being well-known and liked which we have copied in this part (“well-known and liked soccer player”). Instead of taking his helmet off in our scene Biff takes off his shirt as this is also common amongst soccer players in Germany. One of the most famous German soccer players is Otto Rehagel which we used instead of Red Grange. Soccer players usually earn more than twenty-five thousand a year. Therefore, we used a million Euros.

In the following part Willy repeats what he said before. This clarifies to the audience that we are shifting back to the present. The novel suggests that Biff loses his success due to a failed touchdown which we turned into a penalty shot. We also decided to let him fail the Abitur instead of failing Math in order to make it suitable for a German audience.

The thong reminds Willy of the past which is why we introduced another flashback. This is also highlighted by a change in lighting. Lights are in red; on the one hand, in order to indicate love and on the other hand, it suggests a warning signal. Just as in the play we also decided to let the affair scene happen in front of the stage. We also referred to the German history by introducing Bonn and Berlin as the “two” capitals of Germany. Furthermore, we introduced an imagined door as a real cannot suddenly appear on stage. We used panties instead of stockings to make it more modern. Due to word limitation we shortened the scene.

Again we are shifting back to the present introduced by lighting and the repetition of the last sentence said in the present. As Linda still finds thongs in the laundry it suggests that Willy is still having affairs. This is also more suitable for today’s life as having only one affair is less common.

We decided to let Linda discover the affair.

In conclusion, our scene depicts the themes of failure and success, which are also shown in the play “Death of a Salesman”. Renaming characters and changing the American characteristics in the play such as football into soccer makes the scene more suitable for a German audience. Moreover, we updated the play by introducing panties and thongs instead of stockings.

Death of a Salesman -- Willy & Howard

By Damla Ugurlu, Bernadette Hof, and Darius Scherer

Adaptation:

Conversation between Willy Loman and Howard in Act II
Theme -> American Dream

The conversation between Willy Loman and Howard deals with the financial situation in which Willy is. He asks Howard for a job in the town without travelling any more. He thinks he is too old for travelling around and that it would be enough if he earns 65 dollars a week. The whole conversation comes to this point that Howard doesn ́t want him working further as a salesman and that he should live the rest of his life in peace and that his sons are at the turn to look up for their dad.

The failure of the American Dream is very clearly in this particular scene because Willy thinks about a new position in his work life but everything comes different and he stays there without a job.

To approach our German audience with this failure of the American Dream the protagonists of Willy and Howard have to be really authentic. The way how Willy begs for a job in the town and the way how Howard tries to say that he doesn ́t want to work with him has to be plausible. To get the authentic way the actor of Howard has to be like a rich rascal who looks down to Willy. The actor of Willy has to be like an old sweet man who only wants to work further to give his family the opportunity of better life conditions without being rely on somebody else. He has to act like that he sacrifices himself for his family. The look of the protagonists for this particular scene is important, too.

To be authentic Howard must wear the best suit with a hat à la Al Capone and a cigar in his mouth sitting on his chair with feet on the desk.

Willy should look like a fragile old man with unkempt grey hair, slanting glasses and an old striped needle suit. In the conversation Willy should not look in Howards face. To be more plausible he should look on the floor and should talk in a way of being in a crisis and that it would be the only way to reach good life conditions if he gets the job in the town.

All in all these small constructions would determine the scene ́s importance for the whole play and the theme of the American Dream.

Dialogue:
Scene between Willy and Howard symbolises a final cut in Willy Loman ́s life and to transform this passage to make it more realistic for a German audience, we also decided to change the way of speaking between Howard and Willy, which seems to be too soft.

Willy: (with his eyes starring at the ground): I tell you, Sir. (with respect). The kids are all grown up... I don't need much any more. (Then with a short look to Howard, lowing his voice): If I could take home - well, sixty-five dollars a week, I could swing it...

Howard: Yeah, but Willy, see I... (without any indication of mercy, lightening up his cigar) Loman, we are living in a system which is dominated by money, do you really think that I am making a fortune by giving you a better position in this company? I doubt that.

Willy: (trying to hide his nervousity): I tell you why, Sir. Speaking frankly and between the two of us. (pauses) –I ́m just a little tired.

Howard: Oh I could understand that, Willy.[...] That is exactly the point! You are sixty-three years old. We've only got a half- dozen salesman on the floor here. I already got a half-dozen young salesman between twenty and thirty years, successful in selling.

[...]

Willy: (resigned): Why can't I go? What should I do now?

Howard: (with a strong voice, looking down at Willy): I don't want you to represent us.

Willy (with tears in his eyes): Sir, are you firing me? (looking up to Howard) Please! Don't! I need the job! (beating up hands above his head)

Howard: I think you need a good long rest, Willy. Loman, as you said, we both see that you cannot do it any more. You are too old, too tired, too whatever. Fact is, I do not need you. This is part of keeping my business up, might be hard for you but the other salesmens already overtook you. Keeping you for some more years was just doing a favour to my father, but he is dead now. (still without any interest in Willy's emotional situation, standing up and wanting to leave) I have to go now, got a big deal.

Without a look at Willy he leaves the room. As the door shuts the flute begings to play a sad song which fades, as Willy still sitting on the chair slowly begins to cry.

Analysis:

We wanted to transform the play into a more reliable one. We added some stage directions during the dialogue, which show feelings, reactions and properties and tried to give hints for the actors to bring our play on stage or in the cinema. It is clear that the American Dream is not followed by every person in Death of a Salesman. Our intention was to make clearer that the American Dream in his roots is the way of reaching wealth and a successful life career. For a German audience it is important to show the struggle which is behind the scenes. The American Dream contains items like hard work, effort, patience and most important honesty. In reality this is slightly different and this is what we want to clarify to our German audience. Germany itself is a country where you can reach wealth and success by hard work but the reality shows that aspects like aggressiveness and the ability to sell one's own grandmother are even more important.

Germany is a country without any natural resources but could become a leading power in economy. Within branches like the steel industry the workers do tough jobs to earn their maintenance and follow the American Dream with hard work and honesty. The problem is that these workers are unable to really get rich. The people who make big money are part of the executive boards of those companies. Our visualization of Death of a Salesman tries to outline Howard, who is Willy's employer, in a more regardless way. He is the aggressive leader of Willy's company and wants to eliminate all ineffectiveness in his enterprise. We tried to support the reader's view of a very ruthless man with no fear of dismissing an older man who worked for him for years. The symbols we used for this are the strange hat and the cigar in his mouth. As he gained much of his money by being ruthless it was our will to make the readers think of a mobster. Howard does not really live the honest way of the American Dream and this is why we decided to overdraw him and exaggerate his behaviour.

In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Willy always chases the American dream unsuccessfully. His last name 'Loman' strongly recalls to the words 'low' and 'man' which display his misfortune and failure. Our intention was to give him a slightly more prosperous life career and a great job after getting fired from Howard. But this is very difficult. For older people it is extremely difficult to become successful, as they tend to be as in Willy's case "tired" and normally one would get rich or wealthy during one's lifetime, so that once you are in the situation of having no energy anymore, you can retire. As we showed in the dialogue, Willy's boss Howard does not see any use in Willy because of his age and his business is too hard to keep him just because of his good relationship to Howard's father in the past years.

As our chosen scene only is a small part of the whole play we thought about Willy's future from the point of his dismissal. Willy is an old man with an honest soul and this is the reason which made us give him a more golden future. After his discussion with Howard, Willy takes the job offered by Charley and starts over again, by realizing his own 'small' American Dream, although he has to be honest to himself. With 63 years you are not able to cope with young and hungry workers anymore. Here the fact that he finally came to his mind and faces reality would be a change in the drama, which we thought would fit. This change of being conscious about his life situation after being fired and the change to realize that Willy himself should no longer be too stubborn to take what he can get would finally save himself.

It would show the way out of a misbelief and the story can have a good end. This would lead to the fact that even the play's name has to change into "Struggle of a Salesman".

But these are only imaginations of how the play could get a possible turn. Here we do not refer to any scene.

"Death of a Salesman"

By Jonas Kleine, Sofia Semenova, and Lydia Bauer

Adaptation:

Willy – tired from travelling long distances – visits Howard (employer) to ask for a single working spot in New York City, accepting the consequence of a lower salary

-at first, Howard nearly ignores Willy, paying more attention to his new recorder which he boasts of
-when it gets to Willy’s issue, Howard explains calmly there is no such solitary spot for Willy -Willy first begs Howard to understand his situation; when Howard refuses again, Willy gets desperate trying to convince Howard with his long history in the company
-Willy tells the story of how he got into business met his idol, then being a salesman became his big dream
-when Willy finally realizes Howard is not willing to help him prepares for another trip -instead, Howard reveals to Willy he was going to fire him
-Willy is shocked, does not want to give up his job because he is the breadwinner of the family and needs the job to survive
-Howard does not care, leaves the room with the excuse of him having an urgent meeting -Willy is left alone in the office, becoming smaller and smaller in his chair, then the spot goes out

Outward appearance

Howard:
36 years old
wears a wedding band
expensively dressed, well-cut suit; hand-made shoes; short, perfectly styled hair; well-shaved; expensive watch --> he can afford it; proud of what he achieved; wants to show his reliability to possible customers
cliché of the perfect business man
very smooth, no distinctive features, one of many business man --> a similar scene could happen anywhere (in any economic branch) at the moment
looks relaxed, nearly bored, is disturbed by Willy

Willy:
60 years old
wears an old fashioned but tidy-looking suit facial expression: tired and exhausted

The office
* two black leather chairs facing each other over a well-polished, sterile-looking desk in the middle of the room --> impersonality of the relationship between boss and employee, the desk as a barricade between them
* an untouched glass of water --> brought by the secretary
* family portrait on his desk, everybody smiling, Howard puts an arm around his wife --> image of the perfect family in contrast to Willy’s life
* a small flower in a vase as an attempt to brighten the room
* small silver plaque stating “Howard Wagner, CEO”
* very impersonal, sparely furnished room
* big window showing the best view of a city’s skyline (New York or Frankfurt/Berlin/Hamburg for a contemporary German audience) representing all the possibilities Howard can still reach and which are locked for Willy
* no music, but the constant ticking of an alarm clock on Howard’s desk
* people’s voices and the ringing of a phone can be heard in the background from behind the office door --> to show Howard’s importance, the way time is valuable in business life
* the sky is clouded, looks very grey; there is nothing special about the weather as it is just an everyday situation for Howard
* soft mist starts during the scene as it is raining to show Willy’s hopelessness, desperation

Lighting
-cold, dimmed light (with a hint of blue in it); cold, impersonal atmosphere -light only includes the area of the table; rest of the stage is not lit
-by the end of the scene the stage is dark, only one cold bright spot on Willy

Way of acting:

Howard:
voice: mid-low, stable, bugged undertone, dominance by raising his volume
body language: sincere but friendly facial expression and gestures; keeps distance by leaning back in his chair; having his phone or a pen in his hands all the time
superior role --> interrupting Willy; being busy all the time

Whole image
-young businessman who has worked his way up, but is looking into an even more successful future
-sympathetic, but a long distance to his employees (which Willy represents here) remains
- always in a rush, being busy with the company

Willy:
voice: rough, quiet and shaky at the beginning --> needs to restart sentences, over use of „look“ „well“, filled with despair in the end, almost begging
body language: dominated by insecurity, „playing with his hands“ , needs to brace himself on a chair (tiredness)

Whole image
-old disillusioned man seeking for help from his employer
contrast to Howard: not self-confident; being aware of his lower position refers to the issue of old workers being dismissed from the job market, not appreciated; Howard representing the bright flourishing future; Willy representing the “dying” old generation without opportunities
-tired, hoping to find some rest in a fixed working spot

Analysis:

One crucial topic of Arthur Miller’s play is the critique about the achievement-orientated society. He illustrates it as a society in which people are working their fingers to the bones to achieve something but in fact are only used to make profit. This issue is expressed in the scene when Willy visits his boss Howard in his office to ask for a favour for the first time during his work in the company, but is instead fired – despite of all his efforts in support of the company for several decades. As work in Germany is more and more underappreciated we thought that precisely this provocative scene clearly underlines the fact that the German society is turning into a society of ignorance on the social needs of people.

The scene takes place in a bright office with many windows and a big desk; it should create the picture of a stereotypical Western society’s office. There is no specification what branch of the economy this office belongs to because the scene in our interpretation could take place in any branch of the economy: in a hospital, a bank, a car company or anything else – the message provided by this scene affects many areas on the job market. The setting and characters should leave as much identification-potential as possible.

There are a few props in the office which will be explained in the following lines: The sterile furnishing is meant to underline the impersonality at the working space, the desk between both actors is meant to build up a metaphorical barricade to underline the distance between both parties. Through the windows one can see the skyline of a typical German city; as it is Howard’s office it highlights the fact that the world and all its opportunities are open to him. A constant ticking of an alarm clock is heard, which produces a stressed atmosphere and depicts that time is running out for Willy as well as it shows the permanent time pressure in modern societies.

The two acting characters are representing opposite sides of the working world, their way of acting and their outward appearance shall underline their certain roles.

Therefore Willy Loman is representing the usual working man; his job is not specified in any detail, so that everyone can identify with him. His whole picture is that of an old, failed man seeking for help from his employer, demanding something from him for the first time. His distinctive self-consciousness realized by his shaky voice and his body language conveys his inferiority towards Howard. Moreover it is a symbol for the distance between employer and employee which is also underlined by the fact that although both characters have known each other for a long time the say “Mr. Loman” and “Mr. Wagner”. Furthermore his doubtful behaviour shows that even Willy knows that his demand is unlikely to be achieved, demonstrating that it is not self-evident anymore that companies care about their workers. His old suit is on one hand an expression of the old man being passed by the modern times and is moreover an allusion to his issue of Willy not being able to adapt to the present as he is a man who is permanently floating in nostalgia, withdrawing from reality.

Howard Wagner is representing the bosses of today’s Western societies: self-confident, knowing what they want and profit-oriented. The fact that he is also a loving father and husband is highlighted by the photos of his family and his warm appeal seen on these photos. This double-sided characterization shows that loving and caring people in private life can act in inhumane ways in their jobs and is highlighting that compassion, human feelings and even moral values are only present in familial circles but hardly in economy. During the whole scene Howard is not really interested in Willy’s demands; he is checking documents and typing on his smart phone which supports the image of a company that is not interested in the well-being or sorrows of its members. The recurrent interruptions he makes are supporting his superior role.

When Howard goes for his meeting Willy is left alone in the office, the light goes out and there is just one spot on Willy who now stands alone and broken in the dark. This picture is a metaphor for the helplessness in which employees are often left in today’s Western societies. After a few seconds this spot goes out as well hinting that Willy gave up all his hope and will commit suicide in the end of the play.

The German Glass Menagerie

By Katja Wiegand, Julia Kausch, Adrian Weigandt

Adaptation:

Scene 6

To explain the setting of scene six, we chose to divide it into six smaller units:

1.Tom introduces Jim
2. Amanda prepares for gentleman caller 3. Laura has to open the door
4. Jim's future plans
5. Amanda and Jim
6. Dinner is served

Change of screen image: "The clerk" to "The cashier"

In the following we will describe each section and try to set it in a modern German context.

In the beginning Tom introduces Jim to the audience describing him as the former high school hero. Back in school he used to be class president and captain of the soccer team, which is why he was everybody's darling. Since the age of thirteen he was known as the school's chick magnet. Today Jim and Tom work together at the local grocery store. Where Tom is a cashier, Jim works as team leader and therefore has a higher position.

Amanda is all excited about Jim's arrival and therefore dresses Laura and herself up. She is a middle-aged, unemployed stay-at-home-mom, who relies on financial aid of the German government and dresses up as if it was her own date. In an attempt to look younger, she wears a leather skirt, which is only long enough to fit her former self (at the age of 27). Her flouncy blouse matches the style of her white cowboy boots, all topped of with cheap, fake jewelry. She forces Laura to wear a dress, which she bought for this exact occasion the day before at the local H&M store. The short pink dress with black polka dots doesn't seem to fit Laura very well, maybe because she usually dresses more casually in jeans and t-shirt. Laura complains about the heavy make-up Amanda makes her put on and is wondering why she has to be put in such a disguise. Amanda states that men expect women to dress a certain way in order to make the man feel special.

Despite Laura being uncomfortable with her dress and make-up, she opens the door in embarrassment. Without introducing herself she takes a short glance at Jim and then hurries quickly back into her room.

Tom and Jim are on the balcony watching the dull skyline of Berlin-Hohenschönhausen. Tom opens up to Jim: he feels trapped inside his life as a cashier, needing to provide for his family. He tells him about all the TV series he's been watching lately and how witnessing other people's adventures is not enough anymore – he wants to experience them himself. His urge to move on and overcome the barriers of the flat increased. Thus, he applied for assignments abroad at the German Bundeswehr to leave the family behind just like his father did.

Amanda joins Tom and Jim on the balcony and asks Tom to go and get his sister so that they can have dinner. Using this opportunity, Amanda brags about her glorious past when her husband was still living with them and provided for the family. She goes on about her former popularity, telling Jim that she was well courted. Back in the days, no less than 17 well-situated gentlemen callers were after her. Amanda settled for one of them; the only one who proposed to her and should later become the father of her chil- dren. Her attitude suddenly shifts and Amanda reveals her inner motives and starts flirt- ing with the young and handsome Jim O'Connor. Jim on the other hand, does not fall for her attempts to arouse him and politely suggests going back inside to have dinner. At that very moment Tom returns, telling them that dinner is now served.

Laura appears at the door, her face pale and anxious. She stumbles inside, trying to get a grip on herself. On her way to the table Laura faints due to the pressure her mother put on her. Ignoring her duty to take care of Laura, Amanda tells Tom to escort her to the living room so Laura can rest on the sofa. As the scene fades out we see Jim and Amanda raising their glasses to celebrate Jim's visit. The last words we hear are: "To you, Jim!"

Analysis:

We chose scene six because we felt that a lot of key elements of this play reflect in this scene. Namely: Amanda's motives, Tom's future plans, the introduction of Jim as the all-American High School hero and Laura's insecurities regarding men and herself. To put all these facts into a more German context, we changed some aspects of their social background and even individual actions.

First of all, Tom does not watch movies at all; he watches TV series in his room, isolating himself from his social environment, especially regarding his mother. Like in the original play, he does not want to be stuck in her dream of a better future, but searches for his own salvation. To achieve that, he applies to the German Bundeswehr, which is basically a German equivalent for the Union of Merchant Seamen, but not to be taken as literally the same. To put his working situation into a more German context, we made him work as a cashier at a local grocery store instead of selling shoes. His only friend at work still is Jim in our play. Jim also works at the grocery store, the occurrences of Tom inviting Jim still remain the same. Tom feels bad for his sister, he in fact knows the deeper motives of his mother. But to protect his own plans of leaving the family, he just accepts his mother's behavior.

Amanda's hidden motives are quite clear in our version of the Glass Menagerie. She feels attracted to Jim, longing for her imaginary glorious past. She puts her daughter in an uncomfortable position, lowering her self-esteem even more and trying to take her place in this arrangement. Hiding her motives, Amanda dresses Laura up, still convinced that Laura could overcome her issues and attract Jim. Instead of the gay deceivers Williams uses, we feel like our fancy version of the dress suits the modern context better. As we still want to reflect the original idea of deceiving and disguise, we use the image of heavy make-up instead of stuffing Laura's bra. The choice of colors for the dress explicitly draws attention away from her natural beauty and simultaneously reflects a cheap modern lifestyle. We intentionally draw the attention away from Laura, as we want to lay the focus onto the unsatisfied, modern mother of the 21st century. Amanda still does not want her motives to be unveiled, but soon realizes that her daughter is incapable of charming a man. Where the original Amanda projects her own wishes onto her daughter, our Amanda is more straightforward and uses the opportunity to push her own ego and therefore takes matters into her own hands.

Laura therefore becomes a minor character in our play, symbolizing her insignificance to Amanda. What we want to express is, that Laura actually doesn't get recognized by her family. We made her a natural beauty with insecurities and don't mention her being crippled at all. She just has no self-esteem and is being taken advantage of by her mother. Even though Tom is the only person caring for Laura, he can't escape his own life if he continues to provide for her. He ignores the fact, that Amanda takes advantage of Laura and just keeps on moving forward.

It was really difficult to put Jim into a German context. We don't really have high-school heroes in Germany. Therefore we tried our best to make him as attractive as possible. Soccer is the German equivalent to football and being the class president shows responsibility and confidence. German ideals are honesty, being on time and being able to take care of people. We feel like putting Jim in this situation suits the German values the most. Since another German value is being well educated, he visits the night school to achieve his A-level to move on in life – he is all-German now.

What's Going on Here?

Hello and welcome to the ongoing class blog for the course "Staging America: Modern American Drama" at the Universität Potsdam. The goal of this blog is to present the work of my students, who will spend Summer Semester 2013 studying key works of modern and contemporary American drama. In order to enrich and expand our class discussions -- and to illustrate the unique opportunities and challenges of reading dramatic works as literature -- I have assigned my students to "be the director" for the plays that we are reading this term. They are to choose either a specific scene or a work as a whole and "adapt" it for a contemporary German audience. How would they update or alter the drama in order to "translate" the themes of the work to their audience? How would they stage (or film) it? How would they direct their actors to deliver lines or to interact?  Etc.

Ultimately, their assignment takes two forms: the creative and the analytic. They will present a description of their "directorial" choices -- being as creative as they would like -- and then they will explain why and how these choices help to express key ideas and themes to their audience.

I look forward to what is to come in the ensuing weeks and months. One of the great pleasures of teaching for me has always been how much I can also learn from my students, and I have high hopes that this project will offer me new glimpses into how German students perceive the sometimes very American values that have been expressed on the U.S. stage.

Enjoy!