Death of a Salesman Review – Her Majesty’s Theatre Melbourne

The Loman Family

While Willy’s professional struggles sit at the centre of the play, it is the relationships within the Loman family that give the story much of its emotion.

Linda (Alison Whyte) is the glue holding the family together. She loves Willy deeply and spends much of her time trying to protect him, defend him and keep him going, even as his behaviour becomes increasingly difficult.

Alison Whyte is brilliant as Linda. She brings a quiet sadness to the character, but also an incredible strength. Linda has endured years of disappointment while continuing to support her husband and sons. Whyte captures both her vulnerability and her determination to keep the family together.

Willy’s relationship with his sons is far more complicated.

Biff (Josh Helman) was once his father’s favourite. A high school football star, he carried all of Willy’s hopes for greatness. Willy sees enormous potential in Biff and spends years believing that his son is destined for success.

But everything changes when Biff discovers his father’s affair. The idealised image he had of his father is shattered, and their relationship never truly recovers.

As an adult, Biff struggles to find his place. Unlike Willy, he doesn’t want to pretend that they are something they are not. Biff wants his father to accept that they are ordinary people and that there is nothing wrong with that.

Josh Helman brings plenty of frustration and emotion to Biff, particularly in the scenes where he desperately tries to break through Willy’s denial.

Happy (Ben O’Toole), meanwhile, has spent his life trying to gain his father’s attention. Although he has a job and his own apartment and appears more conventionally successful, there is a deep emptiness underneath it.

Ben O’Toole captures this side of Happy well, showing a man who appears confident on the surface but is still searching for his father’s approval.

Anthony LaPaglia gives a strong performance as Willy. He portrays a man who is tired, disoriented and increasingly unable to separate his memories from the present, while also capturing Willy’s anger and frustration.

There are moments where you can see just how desperately Willy wants his life to have meant something.

LaPaglia makes Willy difficult to watch at times, but also difficult not to feel sympathy for. You can see the frustration and disappointment building as he struggles to accept that the life he imagined for himself and his family has not turned out as he expected.