Bind

A Tired “Death of a Salesman”

Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company

 

By Julia Siedlanowska

feel weary giving anything but praise

to a show directed by John Cooper, the

three time Jessie Richardson Theatre
Award winner for directing; especially
after Douglas College had the privilege of
his direction in last semester’s production
of Lanford Wilson’s “The Rimers of
Eldritch.” But...

After seeing last night’s performance
of Arthur Miller’s iconic American
play “Death of a Salesman,” for the
Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company,
I wasn’t exactly swept off my feet. The
story is one that hits home for so many
ambitious people who, with big dreams
and big hearts, are working to pay off their
mortgage for most of their adult life. The
protagonist, Willy Loman, lives out his
dream of finding success on the basis of
personality, or being “well liked,” but not
his reality—and ultimately kills himself
for it. Tom McBeath’s portrayal of Willy’s
desperate sixty-three year old salesman’
is fully crafted to show all the haunted
regrets of a man who, in his fading hope ©
still refuses to alter what he takes as the
ultimate truth—the American Dream.
Biff Loman’s own struggle to get

out of the web of lies and illusions that
his father has swept about him since
birth, ends with his acceptance of the
reality that he is “nothing special.” After
years of being the golden boy in high
school, and full of so much promise for
the future, Willy’s flashbacks bring us to
the moment where Biff (played by Bob

8

Frazer) discovers that his idolized father is
having an affair, and we see the moment
his illusions of reality are shattered. His
father however, is unable to accept this,
and many other failures, and leaves his
wife Linda (Donna Belleville) to end up at
his funeral with the last mortgage payment
made on the house, but nobody to come
home to.

The characters were all relatable, the
performances all calculated, but something
in the actor’s presence was missing. The
ensemble definitely warmed up towards
the end of the second act, but I never felt
truly connected to their emotional journey.
Unfortunately, the climactic scene where
Willy kills himself and Linda watches
from the window of their bedroom as he
crashes the car ended up looking a little
melodramatic. The “Nooooo!” as she
watched the accident, unfortunately, didn’t
hit the spot for me. The performances
seenied tired. Something of the magic of
imitated reality was not there.

Perhaps it was the soundscape that
threw me off. The loud and unbalanced
sounds of the engine starting, and the
sounds of the crash over the speakers
was simply too unrealistic. It was so
obviously played over speakers that it
pulled me completely out of the illusion.
The loud sound of a happy flute song

played whenever Willy succumbed to

his illusions (which was quite often)
was a little “hit you over the head.” A
very worthy play to see, but I know I’ll_
be looking out for other productions for

comparison.

 

The man with no shame

And his name is ‘Rango’

 

 
    

Angela Espinoza

Arts Reviewer

few days ago, I watched a 2010

As with Jerry Rees, the
irector and co-writer of the

animated cult classic, The Brave Little
Toaster (1987). There’s a moment where
Rees explains that at the time, he and his
production team were often criticized
for believing an animated feature could
ever be taken seriously; that was twenty-
six years ago: Today—myself nearly
twenty and having just seen Rango—I’m
reminded again as to why I’m fairly
hostile towards the majority of modern
live-action works.

Performing a scene of stereotypical
drama, self-proclaimed thespian Rango
(Johnny Depp), a chameleon, discusses
the concept of acting as a form of
existentialism. After hitting Roadkill
(Alfred Molina), an armadillo that serves
as Rango’s recurring guide, Rango is
literally hurled from his sad life as a
tank-dweller into the lively Mojave
Desert. Here he discovers the town of

Dirt, inhabited by a mix of desert animals —

garbed in classic Western-style clothing.
With the town suffering from a recent
drought, Rango takes on the role of a »
fearless gunslinger in order to instil hope
for the townsfolk. His acts of ‘bravery’
result in Dirt’s mayor, Tortoise John (Ned

Beatty), to enlist Rango as the new sheriff.

With the help of Beans (Isla Fisher),

an iguana and love-interest, along with
various other Dirt locales, Rango intends
to discover the whereabouts of the water
supply.

First off, Rango is a piece of
stunning animation; from elaborate
chase sequences to the tiny scales on
Rango’s body, Industrial Light & Magic

have created a definitive work of art that
could give Pixar a run for their money.
Several times I actually had to double take
because the creatures became so intensely
lifelike. You’re easily sucked into this
bizarre little world, and the beauty of it

is that this was accomplished without the
use of ‘Real’ or 3D.

As for the story, Rango can easily be
summed up as an unconventional would-
be tour de force that is unfortunately
tied to the idea that it is a ‘kid’s movie’.
While kids will definitely enjoy it,
about seventy-five per cent of the jokes
are going to fly over their heads, with
countless film references, word-play,
and innuendos just to name a few of
the culprits. Rango is simultaneously
an homage to Spaghetti Westerns and
an exploration of what is necessary to
bring ourselves and (ironically) film to
their full potential. The story also rises
in complexity throughout, building up a
number of questions that are seamlessly
answered in one brilliant scene.

Appropriately enough, Nickelodeon
is one of the studios behind Rango. I
say this because, despite many of Nick’s
original and acclaimed productions
(e.g. Rocko’s Modern Life, Angry
Beavers, Invader Zim), it’s always felt
like the company has held itself back in
supposed modesty of the great things
it’s accomplished. Rango is yet another
victim of just that, suffering occasionally
from awkward pacing and lines that
feel too lowbrow for the kind of film it
should be. Nevertheless, I entered Rango
with a sceptical mind and left the theatre ~
enlightened and requiring a second
viewing.

4/5

nooo