'Death of a Salesman' Broadway review — Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf lead an all-star cast in a timely revival
Read our review of Death of a Salesman on Broadway, starring Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf, Christopher Abbott, and Ben Ahlers under the direction of Joe Mantello.
Summary
- Death of a Salesman is a classic drama about a family coping with a broken American dream
- Laurie Metcalf delivers a standout performance in a uniformly affecting cast also led by Nathan Lane; Christopher Abbott; and Ben Ahlers
- Director Joe Mantello's bleak production of the 1949 play feels urgent to 2026 in a time of economic uncertainty
When a classic play like Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman returns to Broadway for yet another revival, it's bound to attract attention. Doubly so when the cast includes Broadway powerhouses like Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf. But whether it's a fondness for great American classics, a bias for the actors, or familiarity from your high school English curriculum that piques your interest, this revival is one to see. Nearly 80 years after Salesman was first performed, Joe Mantello directs a production that proves the play's sharp thorns have not dulled over time.
Death of a Salesman is sparsely staged but nevertheless incredibly intimate, in part thanks to the masterful lighting design by Jack Knowles, capable of inspiring every emotion from dejection to hope. Chloe Lamford's set is bleak, nearly devoid of props and filled with dirt that clouds the air every time a character moves. With just a table and a few chairs, the set is almost entirely empty but for one glaring exception: the 1940s car Willy drives in at the beginning of the show, and leaves in at the end. As Willy’s mental state frays, the car’s unnatural and immovable presence — in the Loman’s living room, in Willy’s office, in the steakhouse where the Loman men meet for dinner — becomes all the more threatening, like a much larger Chekhov’s gun.
The cast all deliver masterclass performances. Lane's Willy Loman is broken down and world-weary, yes; it’s evident in his every movement. But he's also dangerously hopeful. Even for those familiar with the story, Lane almost makes you believe Willy’s fate could turn around after all. Opposite him, Christopher Abbott plays the eldest Loman son, Biff, with the bearing of a tortured poet. Yes, the two characters scream at each other, but this Biff’s anger at his father is sourced from a deep well of sadness. In direct opposition to Lane, Abbott plays his character so audiences never really think he believes in a happy ending. Ben Ahlers, in his Broadway debut, plays a boyishly rakish Happy Loman who provides a foil to the rest: hopeful where Biff is not, stable in his career where Willy is not, but still just as trapped by fate as either of them.
But the standout performance comes from Laurie Metcalf as Linda Loman. She is the doting wife a man like Willy needs, despite the way he snaps at her (and calls her “kid,” just as his boss calls him). In scenes with Lane, Metcalf's Linda demonstrates a deep devotion that may or may not be keeping Willy’s delusions afloat. But behind his back, she radiates intelligence and a righteous anger that motivates her aimless sons, however briefly. She is fierce and frustrated, hampered by her inability to help her fragile husband and desperate to keep him safe. Metcalf’s delivery of the line calling Willy “only a little boat looking for a harbor” hits hard, especially given the bleak backdrop.
Perhaps the best device in Mantello's production, however, is the distinction between Willy’s past and present. Many Salesman productions see Biff and Happy's actors play both present and past versions of themselves. But here, younger actors (Joaquin Consuelos as Young Biff and Jack Termine as Young Happy) make the distinction clear. The Young Biff who looks to Willy as the ultimate role model — at least, in Willy’s remembrance of events — is an entirely different person from the present-day Biff who can only look to him with disappointment. And when we finally see the two characters merge at the show's climax in a memory not even Willy can gloss over, the heartbreak is almost too much to take.
Death of a Salesman summary
Traveling salesman Willy Loman returns home to Brooklyn late one night, having cut short a business trip to Boston because he felt sick. His doting wife, Linda, encourages him to ask his boss for a job that doesn’t involve travel now that he's spent 35 years on the road. The couple’s oldest son, the 30something Biff, is back home after a stint of jobs in the West and is once again aimless, while their younger son, Happy, is aimless in his own way. A tangled web of money troubles, family secrets, and broken dreams closes in tighter around the Lomans, each of them must decide how they will cope.
What to expect at Death of a Salesman
It was no surprise that, at my show, Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf both received a long round of audience applause upon their first appearance on stage. Both accomplished actors boast long and diverse resumes that span film, television, and theatre, with plenty of Broadway credits apiece. Starry casts may be all the rage on Broadway, but in the case of Lane and Metcalf, there is a palpable sense of something special in seeing them fill some of the best roles American theatre has to offer.
This Death of a Salesman marks the sixth time the play has been revived on Broadway, not to mention countless international and regional performances. And yet something about this great American play, written in 1949 and set in 1947, feels particularly attuned to this moment. Workers are expected to give more and receive less. Everything gets more expensive by the second, from gas to eggs, yet salaries stay the same. When Willy first steps out on stage, it’s difficult to see the world-weariness that wracks his body and not feel it in your own bones.
What audiences are saying about Death of a Salesman
With a 94% audience rating averaged from almost 600 reviews on Show-Score, Death of a Salesman is trending high. Audience members praised Mantello's direction and Lane, Metcalf, Abbott, and Ahlers as the Lomans.
- “The show is PHENOMENAL. From start to finish you feel the plight of each character from the highs of happiness to the gut wrenching lows of desperation.” - Show-Score user Rachel E
- “It’s a classic American play for a reason; it stands the test of time, offering mid-twentieth century advice for a 21st century audience.” - Show-Score user Allen
- “The acting was spectacular, classic story, cast was phenomenal!” - Show-Score user Chuck M
Read more audience reviews of Death of a Salesman on Show-Score.
Who should see Death of a Salesman
- Fans of great American playwright Arthur Miller will enjoy this new revival of Death of a Salesman, which, despite frequent revivals (including one Broadway just over three years ago), will no doubt offer a new lens on Miller’s story about the broken American dream.
- Fans of Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf will delight in their powerful, raw performances in two of the most iconic roles in theatre.
- Joe Mantello is an accomplished theatremaker, having directed Metcalf in seven other Broadway shows and, perhaps most famously, staged Broadway’s Wicked. Fans of his work will want to see his take on Death of a Salesman.
Learn more about Death of a Salesman on Broadway
Director Joe Mantello’s Death of a Salesman feels breathlessly current, and the all-star cast of Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf, Christopher Abbott, and Ben Ahlers brings the Loman family to life with heartbreaking realism.
Photo credit: Death of a Salesman on Broadway. (Photos by Emilio Madrid)
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