Theatre Terrific says Hello to a hidden part of history in the Arthur Miller family
What would you say to a family that kept you locked up in an institution and denied your existence because you were born with Down syndrome? In playwright Susanna Uchatius’ Hello, the life of Daniel Miller unfolds in a story that asks why this could happen, how it could unfold and what if it played out differently?
Daniel was born in 1966 to celebrated American playwright Arthur Miller and his last wife, Magnum Agency photojournalist Inge Morath. The Millers, including daughter Rebecca, resided in a large home in Connecticut. Daniel never did.
Born with Down syndrome, the boy was sent to an institution, the Southbury Training School, and for 40-plus years was unknown to many people. He never attended family functions, was never schooled and was all but written out of his family’s history. Morath visited Daniel in the institution. Arthur didn’t. Given Arthur’s championing of social-justice causes, this seems massively hypocritical.
In her new work Hello, Uchatius tries to look at Daniel’s life through his eyes. To attempt to draw out the identity of this person in spite of his family history was a multiyear research project. She came upon the idea for the play from reading Suzanna Andrews’ 2007 Vanity Fair expose titled Arthur Miller’s Missing Act.
“I’m a member of the international federation of theatre research, and I took a scene from this to Warsaw University,” said Uchatius. “And in a room of full of intellectual, academic types, no one was aware of it. This is the third part of a trilogy done from (Arthur’s) point of view, the mother’s point of view and now this is done from Daniel’s point of view.”
She said she feels that the final part of the trilogy is the strongest and best for Theatre Terrific.
A fixture in the local artistic community for the past 24 years, the company is mandated to develop inclusive works for artists of all abilities to showcase their performance chops and produce collaborative theatre works. The idea is to effect change through thought-provoking art. Uchatius has been the artistic director since 2004.
The title for the play came from Alex Edwards, the actor who plays Daniel. She was born with brain damage that affected cognitive speech and some motor skills. That said, the actor is a Special Olympics provincial championship curler, bowler and rhythmic gymnast. She also happens to be Uchatius’ daughter, which adds a direct family dimension to the portrayal of Daniel Miller.
“I was asked what I thought Daniel would do or say if he got to meet his family,” said Edwards. “I got quiet, which doesn’t happen often and said, ‘Hello.’ Everyone was kind of stunned and surprised, but it became the name of the show.”
Digging into an imagined reality of Daniel’s existence, from the miserable
conditions of the institution where he was housed to such historic slights as not even being mentioned in his mother’s obituary, gives Edwards a lot to work with in the play. She says that it felt right as some similarities arose between her and her character. Much of it is bittersweet, as Mutti (the Morath character) and Daniel engage in discussions.
“When I found out that he loved to ride horses and bowl and watch Yogi Bear on TV with friends in the institution, it was clear that there were times when they were laughing, smiling and happy,” said Edwards.
“There is a big scene when my sister takes me to see Death of a Salesman to understand what dad does because we have never had any contact and our mother gets very concerned because I might be seen and recognized. It makes me angry.”
Many in the arts community were shocked by the Vanity Fair story, although this doesn’t mean that it led to their literary hero being demonized for his actions.
The complex issues of the playwright were addressed in Bernard Weinraub’s play Fall. That work tried to project a balanced indepth assessment of the decisions made. That a contemporary audience might just jump to the conclusion that the story represents a gigantic failure in life is up for assessment.
Theatre Terrific’s play goes to the source, giving agency to the one player in the piece who was almost vanished all over again once his story was exposed.
Years later, the person who had to live through the institution that was cited for dangerous living conditions was still an enigma. It came up on set with the Hello cast and crew when someone asked, “Is Daniel still alive?” Nobody knew.
There is an answer. According to a June 14, 2018 National Public Radio report, Daniel, 51, is alive and well, living with a foster family in Connecticut. According to the report, when Arthur died he left Daniel a portion of his estate equal to the amount his other three children received.
Better late than never.