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Remembering Arthur Miller
Edited by Christopher Bigsby
Methuen £18.99
305 pages
Dateline: 18th December, 2005
The heart of this tribute to a man who was, at the very least, the
greatest American playwright of the second half of the last century
is contained in its closing pages. The last quarter of Remembering
Arthur Miller features a long interview that the legendary writer
gave to Christopher Bigsby on Radio 4 in 1995.
This covers the whole of his life and writing, giving an overview of
the man, his motivations and, most importantly, his politics. It runs
through the plays and contains many morsels of information that help
to give an understanding of why those plays were written and how they
were received.
There is also an amazing demonstration of prescience as Miller talks
about his experiences in the Fifties, when he appeared before the House
Un-American Activities Committee. He suggests that the climate of fear
about the Communist threat from the East allowed McCarthy and his cronies
to assert power through the fears of the people.
Miller then suggests that while he does not think that the same thing
could happen again today, he was concerned that "You could, for
example, if there was enough terrorism in the country, get something
going about that. People would be scared to go downtown, scared of being
in office buildings, scared of going on the subway, and if you nailed
somebody and said, "he is part of this big conspiracy," you
might get something going for a while". This might be regarded
as a remarkable prediction of the consequences of 9/11 and more recent
events in London.
The bulk of the book comprises almost eighty tributes to the playwright
from people that knew him. These are arranged alphabetically rather
than thematically and include writers, critics, actors, directors and
friends, often those who lived near to his home in Connecticut.
From these, we learn not only about the plays but also the fact that
practically every woman who met Miller, even when he was in his eighties,
was dazzled by some aura of sexuality. On a more mundane level, people
talk about his enjoyment of carpentry, his love of his children and
just chewing the fat with friends and acquaintances from the theatre.
Strangely, two of the most interesting pieces are about the same lesser-known
play. Both English actor Brian Cox and American director David Esbjornson
write fascinatingly about the difficulties in producing A Ride Down
Mount Morgan. What shines through in their tributes, as in so many
others, is Miller's love of theatre and willingness to listen to suggestions
for improvements to his work.
Former director of the Royal Exchange in Manchester, Greg Hersov writes
particularly well of Miller on both The Misfits and Timebends
and catches the writer perfectly with a quote that could stand as his
epitaph, when he talks about the reason why people love theatre. "It
can make us feel less alone".
Many actors write about Miller's presence at rehearsals and his keenness
to help directors. As an example, Margot Leicester catches the fear
and pleasure of working with a great man, and also pays tribute to his
last wife, Inge Morath. In his piece, former director of the National
Theatre Richard Eyre captures the man as well as anybody and puts him
nicely into context.
Miller was more than just a playwright and in particular, did a wonderful
and courageous job for imprisoned writers around the world as President
of International PEN. Joanne Leedom-Ackerman pays a fine tribute on
this part of the writer's life, seconded by Harold Pinter, who explains
how that life almost ended during a hairy visit behind the Iron Curtain.
In one of the most fascinating memoirs, Warren Mitchell, who was a
fine Willy Loman, lets on about how he made such an impression as the
lost soul in search of the American Dream.
The composer William Balcom, who wrote the music for an opera version
of A View from the Bridge, got this kind of book exactly right.
He says that "the trouble with so many tributes is that they are
often less about The Great Man I Knew and more about The Great Man Who
Knew Me". This proves to be spot on in too many cases.
By the end of the tributes section, the format has become a little
indigestible and repetitive as the editor has clearly decided that if
somebody had the good grace to take time to write a piece then it must
be published.
Even so, there are so many gems dotted around that, when combined with
the long, informative interview, build a great picture of a wonderful
man.
Articles from 2005
Articles from 2004
Articles from 2003
Articles from 2002
Articles from 2001
Articles from 2000
Articles from 1999
Articles from 1998
Articles from 1997
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