A moment of intensity for one of the evening’s Willy’s. Image from New York Theatre Review.

Have you ever seen a character in a movie or a play and wondered how he/she would be portrayed by someone else? In the innovative theater company 600 Highwaymen’s This Great Country, an inventive adaptation of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, we get this opportunity four times with the protagonist Willy Loman. The play was presented at the River to River Festival from July 10th through the 13th at the South Street Seaport.

Walking into the venue located in the mall on Pier 17, I noted it was not a traditional setup; rather, it consisted of a linoleum floor, chairs, and a table, no props to be found. The actors also used the doors to enter and exit outside onto the pier, even performing outdoors in the finale. The performance opened with an interesting yoga/stretching routine with the entire cast that repeated many times during the show and provided a change of pace in between scenes. Using multiple actors of different ages, races, and even genders to portray single characters added new understanding to them and provided reconsideration for traditional casting decisions. For instance, the use of a child around seven years old to play a stern boss induced much laughter.

When the show opened, I did not feel convinced by the actors’ portrayals, but as time went on the interactions and depth to the characters improved dramatically. Although the plot followed the original story rather closely, it gave the audience a completely new outlook. Unfortunately, This Great Country is no longer playing in New York or its debut city of Austin, but if it comes to your city, put it on your must-see list.