Listening to the rehearsals of both Death of a Salesman and Skeleton Crew over the last week, I’ve been struck by another commonality the two plays share, which is: they both examine how our system in America treats workers as they age. Both plays are about American work, sure, and we’ve been talking a lot about those themes with regards to these plays. But the less visible text revolves around age in both plays, how Americans treat wisdom and experience as something expendable, how we have fewer systems in place than we think for the aging to stay vital and connected and working.
Every time I’ve visited rehearsal for these two plays in the last few weeks, I’ve been struck by another thing they have in common. Both plays are greatly enlivened by the presence of great actors. It’s a great honor to produce these plays in rep for that reason as well.