David Hayman speaks to Westender Magazine about taking on the part that many stage actors dream of – Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman.
By Tracy Mukherjee
Not one to sit on his laurels, David Hayman last spoke to me before his electrifying performance as Eric in Cyprus Avenue in February 2024. As one of the first performances brought to the stage as a collaboration with the Tron Theatre Company, the Pavilion Theatre and Trafalgar productions had a sold-out run. We meet David a year on and ready to tread the Pavilion boards once again…in Death of a Salesman and in a subsequent tour. What a perfect choice for an ovation.
Death of a Salesman – one week at The Pavilion in March. It’s your first time portrayed Willy Loman – exhilarating or terrifying?
I’ve been lucky enough to play great classical leads in my career Hamlet, MacBeth, King Lear. Most tragedies are about Kings and Queens and Tyrants. This one is about an ordinary working-class man. The realities and the fantasies of his life – how he creates the downfall of his family himself.
Did you need much persuasion to play Willy Loman in a touring production?
We actually put the idea to Trafalgar, Andy Arnold and I, after Cyprus Avenue. I’ve wanted to do an American Classic for quite some time. They jumped at the chance. Am pleased that Trafalgar are widening out the vision a little bit and bringing dramatic classics like this to the Pavilion Theatre.
As an actor, is it still daunting to play possibly one of the most iconic characters ever written for stage?
I never find it daunting; I find it exciting. The daunting aspect is learning the lines! I’ve been reading the script every day since October. Actually, bringing the words alive and portraying him is sheer joy because he has huge emotional range. He has his petty cruelties – the way he treats his wife, his son, whom he adored. Arthur Miller himself says it really is a love story between a father and son. He (Willie) wants him to be all the things he wanted to be himself.
The play is a story of a husband a father, pursuing the American dream, travelling, working hard. But he is then faced with the reality of his existence through his son.
He lives in a fantasy world; his dead brother comes back. Biff (Willie’s son) says ‘come on we’ve got to wake up and face reality.’
And do you feel that’s his way of navigating life, in the knowledge that he is a failure?
He retreats into his fantasies, his dream world. It’s his comfort blanket. Others around him try to puncture that fantasy and this makes him angry and brings out his ugly side.
Miller wrote the play in a time when many Americans had lived through the depression, war and now it was there time to have it all. But it doesn’t happen. It’s timeless isn’t it – so many of the themes explored are as relevant today as then?
He’s trying to bring his dreams alive. We all dream. The life we’re going to have, the life we are going to create for our children and our children’s children. It’s a very human story.
How do you see Willie – do you feel there is an expectation of how he should be played, or is there just an emotional connection to such a tragic character that plays out for you?
I try and debunk what people expect. I follow my instincts with a script. If the lines leap off the page and stir my heart and my imagination, I’m on the right track. It’s what I can unearth from the text. It’s a wonderful rich tapestry of a man’s life.
Set over a 24-hour period but, through flashback and his fantasies, his whole life is relayed. Miller was very specific about how the set design (transparent walls, warmer lighting for his earlier dreams) should look. Will Andy Arnold stay true to this?
(The Production) will stay true to the spirit of it. It’s a very elliptical piece. You fade in and out of time. He (Miller) plays with time. Miller’s original title was ‘inside his head’ which is a great metaphor for the play itself. Music and lights play an important part. The company play live music and can create this atmosphere.
And it’s a year since Cyprus Avenue and Eric. Both desolate characters, clinging to an ideal of what their life is. Do you like getting your teeth into characters that are so multi-faceted?
Oh yes! You’ve got so many different choices to make, so many different avenues you could take through a story. Light, dark, shade, fascinating. He’s a chameleon – one minute he’s lovely and funny, the next minute he’s been really horrible to his wife and his daughter.
How do you switch off?
You can’t come off stage and go straight to bed. Epecially when you are doing a role of this size and this importance. You relive it, every minute of that performance.
When finished, the first thing I do is head off to Malawi to visit my projects. I come back refreshed from that, seeing the people there, their courage, their resilience.
David ends by commending Trafalgar Theatres for the great investment in Scottish Theatre. Because the production is all Scottish. An all-Scottish cast will take Death of a Salesman on tour around the UK. After Glasgow, there are dates in Edinburgh, Birmingham, Dublin, Cardiff and beyond.
David notes how rare it is for such a large cast to tour.
It’s a real investment in Scottish Theatre.
One Year On
What did the team at Trafalgar Theatres think when David and Andy presented a list of dramas they might like to work with?
Helen Enright, COO and CEO of Trafalgar says ‘We had the ingredients to say yes. We knew it would do well in Glasgow because it’s David Hayman and we knew Cyprus Avenue had done well.’
But a UK wide Death of a Salesman tour? ‘It’s always a risk to do a tour.’ Says Helen. But we wanted to tour venues that loved dramas like Dublin, combined with using our venues where we had time to promote the run for commercial success.
Trafalgar have had hit the ground running by taking over the Pavilion. How have they found their first year? ‘We’ve had 274 performances which is 120 more than before’ says Helen.
That’s 261,000 theatregoers to be precise.
Building on Success
But Helen firmly believes it’s not about changing well established genres at The Pavilion. She says ‘We wanted to build on what it (The Pavilion)had previously, what runs went well. This year we have Celtic The Musical, Bay City Rollers The Musical and so much more.’
The programme for 2025 also has spoken word performances, Celtic Connections,
working in collaboration with e.g. The Royal Conservatoire, The Tron and Glasgow University.
Eclectic doesn’t quite cover it! But isn’t that what The Pavilion Theatre has always embraced?
Helen says ‘The Pavilion is where Glasgow people go to the theatre. We just want Glasgow to be an exciting vibrant place, for people to experience theatre.’
Death of a Salesman Tour
Death of A Salesman
Pavilion Theatre
5th – 9th March
w: trafalgartickets.com/pavilion-theatre-glasgow/
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