A woman drives from Brooklyn to Boston to confront the other woman in her husband’s life in “Wife of a Salesman,” by Eleanor Burgess. The play, which was inspired by Arthur Miller’s classic, “Death of a Salesman,” is being produced by Writers Theatre in association with Milwaukee Repertory Theater.
The show runs from March 3-April 3 with most performances at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sundays.
Kate Fry plays the character known as The Wife.
Fry believes that having Willy Loman’s wife confront her husband’s mistress is an interesting concept because “It’s juicy,” she said. “It appeals to our lurid fascination with other people’s dirty laundry. I think it also appeals to maybe our baser taste of wanting to see two women duke it out.”
But is that the kind of behavior you would expect from a 1950s housewife?
Fry described The Wife as “a product of her times — putting the other person first; working within the structure that is presented to her to live the best possible life. Someone who puts a premium on kindness, decency, support of others. She is tough. She is the pillar of her entire family.”
The Wife’s approach is not what people have come to expect in current times.
“In our day and age, things have gotten really loud,” Fry said. “It’s the loudest, angriest voice that’s getting the most attention. (The Wife) would be appalled by the tone of our culture zeitgeist.”
Amanda Drinkall plays The Mistress. “Anytime we get to hear or imagine the other side of the story is really exciting,” she said. “‘Death of a Salesman’ is such a well-known story but there are a lot of questions about what’s happening on the other side.”
Drinkall gets to fill in the gaps about the other woman in Loman’s life. “She’s a very fun-loving girl at least on the surface,” the actor said. “She’s very into the life of a Hollywood starlet. She has a very big imagination and lives in a daydream kind of world. She surrounds herself with a glitzy and glamorous idea of life even though her life doesn’t really line up with that.”
The actor believes that her character has probably been involved with a lot of men.
Director Jo Bonney specializes in directing new works, something she really enjoys.
“It’s such a blank slate,” she said. “It’s the questions you get to ask and the conversations you have with the playwright. The playwright is still discovering and finalizing those final details and is exciting to be around.”
Bonney said there were many reasons why she chose to direct “Wife of a Salesman.”
“It’s a wonderfully clever and thoughtful approach for a female playwright to mine the theatrical canon in this way,” Bonney noted. “I thought it was smart and fun, sophisticated, and it’s funny, also. It’s a joy to work on it.”
The director stressed that it’s not necessary to be familiar with “Death of a Salesman” to appreciate this play. “It is very much it’s own play and it’s own time and place,” she said.
Both actors are enjoying working on a world premiere. “It’s really fun to have the playwright in the room,” Fry said. “She’s whip smart, endlessly curious, and really funny. It’s exciting to be part of her process.”
Drinkall, who has worked on a couple of world premieres before, noted that one aspect of the new play process is that “things change. When the playwright is there with you, she is still working on it, too. Until opening night you’re aware that it might not be set yet.”
World premieres are exciting for Drinkall, though, because “you’re the first person to have explored the character.”
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‘Wife of a Salesman’
When: March 3-April 3
Where: Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre, Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe
Tickets: $35-$90
Information: 847-242-6000; writerstheatre.org/wife-of-a-salesman
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.