MRS. LOMAN

Mrs. Loman, A  Row Theater production conceived by playwright Barbara Cassidy and directed by Meghan Finn,  is a further study of the dysfunctional family originally created in Arthur Miller’s 1949 stage play Death of a Salesman. Monique Vukovic, convincingly reveals the transformation of the downtrodden but loyal housewife, Linda Loman, after her husband’s suicide. 

Picking up right where Arthur Miller’s play ends, the scene opens as family and friends enter the Loman residence (set design by Christopher and Justin Swader) after the funeral of Willy Loman. Characters quickly reveal themselves: Linda, the long suffering wife and mother; the two argumentative and competitive sons, Biff and Happy (played by brother actors Liam and Isaac Cassidy) ; Charley and Bernard, neighbors; and a surprise and unknown neighbor, Esther (Linda Jones), who says she knew Willy from neighborhood walks. The group , still reeling from the shock of Willy’s suicide, defend him, blame themselves and toast him with champagne…while trying to come to terms, and trying to move on. 

Linda is still searching her soul for answers when the newcomer, Esther, cajoles her to move on from her life as a disrespected wife. She recommends Linda experiments: takes college classes, changes her wardrobe, and expresses herself. 

Cassidy introduces a new character who enters and exits: “The Contemporary Woman” (Patricia Marjorie) who acts as a one woman “greek chorus” of sorts. She aserves as an alter ego, philosopher, stage manager, moving the scenes with a finger click to freeze action or begin anew.  She suggests to Linda that now that Willy is dead, “Here is where the work is to be done,” promoting the change and transformation Linda experiences as the play unfolds. 

Now that the patriarch, Willy Loman is dead, Linda faces new challenges including moral questions she never had to face before. There’s the bi-racial relationship of son, Biff to Lena, a woman of color; the blatant sexism of son Happy, who brags about his assault and rape of a woman at a bar; and her expanding intellectual, sexual, and drug experiences through her relationship with Esther, (who as it turns out, was Willy’s lover). She establishes boundaries with her sons finally disowning Hap– demanding that he “leave my house.”  When the relationship between the two sons escalates to a fist fight, she ends the scene dramatically with a knife to Hap’s center. 

Cassidy has imaginatively continued the Loman saga, this time focusing on the wife who has long been the family pillar. She exposes the feminist dilemmas women faced in the decades after the original play was written, and still current today. The entire cast appears on stage at the end, speaking to the audience, identifying themselves as “the family of America.”  While Death of a Salesman was about Willy Loman’s inability to accept change within himself and society, Mrs. Loman shows the courage and strength of a woman who evolves, makes unpopular decisions, and confronts the reality of her family in a way her husband never could. 

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Mary Seidman–