Here’s what you need to know

Starts at 7:00pm

This event is FREE

No experience necessary

Fun and informal: You can sit and listen or participate as much as you want

We will read “Death of a Salesman.” More information about the play and ACT play reads below.

About the Play

Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, returns home to Brooklyn early from a sales trip. At the age of 63, he has lost his salary and is working only on commission, and on this trip has failed to sell anything. His son Biff, who has been laboring on farms and ranches throughout the West for more than a decade, has recently arrived home to figure out a new direction for his life. Willy thinks Biff has not lived up to his potential. But as Biff reveals to his younger brother Happy—an assistant to the assistant buyer at a department store—he feels more fulfilled by outdoor work than by his earlier attempts to work in an office.

Alone in his kitchen, Willy remembers an earlier return from a business trip, when Biff and Happy were young boys and looked up to him as a hero. He contrasts himself and his sons with his next door neighbor Charley, a successful businessman, and Charley's son Bernard, a serious student. Charley and Bernard, in his view, lack the natural charisma that the Loman men possess, which Willy believes is the real determinant of success. But under the questioning of his wife Linda, Willy admits that his commission from the trip was so small that they will hardly be able to pay all their bills, and that he is full of self-doubt. Even as Linda reassures him, he hears the laughter of The Woman, his mistress in Boston.

Death of a Salesman was written by Arthur Miller. It premiered in New York City at the Morosco Theatre in New York City in 1949.

About Table Reads

The Play Selection Committee of Athens Community Theatre hosts several opportunities each season to read plays for fun. Participation in a table read is a great way to “dip a toe in” to see what it’s like to work with ACT. The play is read in a casual setting: you can let us know if you want to participate or you just want to listen in. And you can change your mind at any time.