Stand-in Salesman is the real deal

THIS production of Arthur Miller’s 1949 tragic drama about a washed out New York salesman was to have starred Tim Pigott-Smith.

Sadly, Mr Pigott-Smith died suddenly in April, so it can’t have been easy for Nicholas Woodeson to have joined the grieving company. But he gives an assured, subtle and moving performance in the lead role of Willy Loman.

It’s a demanding play in which Willy is seldom off stage as he relives his life on what turns out to be its final day.

Woodeson (right) is a stocky, somewhat enigmatic actor, but his precision steers the story to its bleak conclusion as Willy is hollowed out by the American dream. Always dapper, he grapples with his car-crash career and family life, while keeping a wary eye on the audience as though fearing its judgment.

George Taylor impresses as his son Biff, a drifter who adores his dad, yet who also harbours a tawdry secret about him. Tricia Kelly as Willy’s wife Linda keeps the show on the road and is determined to hide that he has long contemplated suicide. There’s not a lot of consolation beyond Miller’s love of the characters and pleasure in their banter. But it remains a potent parable about becoming a slave to your dreams. For me, Georgia Lowe’s set is needlessly austere and I would have preferred a steadier focus on the sadness that runs throughout. But Woodeson, with garrulous bonhomie and a marble smile, delivers a star turn Pigott-Smith would surely have been proud of himself. FOR tour details, see royaland derngate.co.uk