McKinley Belcher III, Wendell Pierce and Khris Davis in “Death of a Salesman” (Photo: Joan Marcus) Bernard’s father, Charley, can emerge as too good to be true, but Delaney Williams’s enormously empathetic performance in the role makes for a brief but needed respite amid the growing despair. Howard and Bernard aren’t sympathetic characters as portrayed by DeLong and Stocking, but under Cromwell’s astute direction, they’re not stereotypical bad guys either. And there is something else that is now obvious but unspoken: Bernard and Howard have advantages as white men denied to Willy’s far-less-successful sons. Now, when Willy has to go begging to his original boss’ young son, Howard (Blake DeLong), or an old friend’s lawyer son, Bernard (Stephen Stocking), it’s not only the difference in age that bakes in the humiliation. After telling Louise how wonderful those customers are up in New England, he emits a puff of disgust from between clenched teeth.īeyond the Loman family, Cromwell has cast most of the other characters traditionally. About halfway through Act 1, Pierce begins to give Willy a facial tick. All of Willy’s joyous American Dream jingoism is odd to hear coming from a Willy Loman who’s African American, and the genius of Pierce’s performance is how he uses that optimism to highlight the character’s self-deception.
The actor is setting us up to take us down quickly.
In the play’s opening scenes, Pierce mines the humor in Miller’s writing, almost turning “Death of a Salesman” into a sitcom. Charles Fuller, Pulitzer-Winning, Oscar-Nominated ‘A Soldier’s Play’ Playwright, Dies at 83
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