By Tanya Steele
Death of a Salesman will be brought to The Memo stage in Healesville for two shows on Friday, May 12.
Considered one of the greatest plays of the 20th century the Arthur Miller piece will be performed by the Hearth Theatre.
Core cast actor and creative director Charlie Cousins is energised and ready to perform in Healesville.
“We’re really excited, we’ve been working hard and it’s really exciting to stand on the shoulders of last season’s show and build something really soulful and meaningful,” he said.
The show had a run last year in 45 Downstairs Melbourne with good success and reviews.
The majority of the cast has come back for this run and Cousins said the new additions have slotted in really well to the ensemble.
“We’ve formed a really, really tight bond, there’s a really a really lovely ensemble feel to the whole project,” he said.
The play originally written in 1949 is based in a US setting and the cast will be performing with American accents.
The story follows the main character Willy Loman in an array of memories, dreams, confrontations, and arguments, all of which make up the last 24 hours of his life.
“It’s this fractured family, we all love each other but don’t really know how to communicate with each other and don’t really know how to get along,” Cousin said.
Cousins said despite the cultural and historical setting the play is very relevant.
“We’re ready to hear the play now, with capitalism and consumerism, and just that whole kind of fairy tale of the American dream, America has spread its culture throughout all of the world,” he said.
“It takes you into a specific world, but it’s quite universal.”
The main character Willy Loman will be played by well renowned theatre actor Paul English, while Mr Cousins will play the role of Biff.
Cousins has always loved Death of a Salesman and used the monologue by Biff for his audition for acting school.
“It’s been one of these plays that have been with me and inspired so many, so many creative projects over the years and to be able to get a chance to put it on and to really realize the full magnitude of the production has been really lovely,” he said.
Cousins loves the area and spent some time living in the Yarra Ranges and he appreciates the natural settings of the towns are in.
“It’s just such a beautiful part of the world, there are so many beautiful gardens and places to walk and these places like the Dandenong ranges and Healesville are starting to become little refuges from the intensity of city life,” he said.
The cast has been pushing themselves in rehearsals and Cousins said they are performing with an approach almost jazz improvisation like mindset.
“We engage in the moment spontaneously with a place of not knowing, you know, so that it can truly be alive from moment to moment,” he said.
The play has been received well by audiences and Cousins said there are some cathartic moments throughout the play.
“It just feels like a really important story to tell, people have been really moved by it and sharing this with an audience helps with starting a conversation that really matters,” he said.
The Death of a Salesmen will show at the Memo on Friday 12 May at 1 pm and 7.30 pm.
The show contains blackouts and themes of death and suicide.
Tickets are available at The Memo and the Yarra Ranges Council website.
