ABSTRACT

First published in 1990, this book presents a discussion with Arthur Miller, in conversation with Christopher Bigsby. Miller talks openly and extensively about his own life and experiences, events and environments which provide material for his plays: his New York childhood, the Depression, the McCarthy witch-hunts. He discusses in depth both the technique of his writing and the moral and political questions which his plays address, and argues passionately for the importance of maintaining respect for human values in a world where they are so frequently transgressed. Interwoven with these conversations are contributions from actors, directors, designers, reviewers, and writers who have encountered Miller over the years – whether in person or through his plays – which attest to the universal and enduring importance of his work.

 

chapter |1 pages

Edward Albee

chapter |1 pages

Ralph Ellison

chapter |1 pages

David Hare

chapter |2 pages

Vaclav Havel

chapter |2 pages

Joseph Heller

chapter |2 pages

Harold Pinter

Arthur Miller’s socks

chapter |3 pages

Alan Plater

Hail to the Chief

chapter |3 pages

William Styron

chapter |1 pages

Peter Ustinov

chapter |23 pages

Kurt Vonnegut

chapter |4 pages

Martin Jenkins

Director of the BBC World Premiere of The Golden Years, November, 1987

chapter |3 pages

Ronald Pickup

chapter |3 pages

John Shrapnel

chapter |5 pages

Paul Unwin

Bristol Old Vic, May 1990

chapter |4 pages

Wally Daly

chapter |2 pages

Rosemary Harris

chapter |3 pages

Gregory Hersov

Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

chapter |10 pages

Michael Holt

On designing All My Sons and The Crucible at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

chapter |1 pages

Robertson Davies

chapter |2 pages

Doris Lessing

chapter |1 pages

David Mamet

chapter |2 pages

Arnold Wesker

chapter |4 pages

Benedict Nightingale

The Times

chapter |2 pages

Dustin Hoffman

chapter |4 pages

Warren Mitchell

chapter |1 pages

John Malkovich

chapter |10 pages

Cliff Burnett

Extracts from Director's Rehearsal Journal, Dundee Rep, 1990

chapter |3 pages

Margot Leicester

An Enemy of the People, The Young Vic Theatre Company 1989

chapter |2 pages

David Thacker

in conversation with Heather Neill

chapter |5 pages

John Arden

chapter |2 pages

Howard Davies, Bill Dudley, Tom Wilkinson, Zoë Wanamaker, Clare Holman, David Burke

The Crucible, The National Theatre, June 1990

chapter |2 pages

Jamie Hayes, Bethan Dudley, Hilary Summers, Andrew D. Mayor

On an operatic version of The Crucible at the Royal Academy of Music, London, 1990

chapter |2 pages

Barry Kyle

The Crucible, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1984

chapter |3 pages

Gerald Freedman

Roundabout Theatre production, New York City. March 1990

chapter |1 pages

Ruth Nelson

chapter |8 pages

Gordana Rashovich

chapter |1 pages

Richard Eyre

Artistic Director, the National Theatre

chapter |2 pages

Alan Ayckbourn

Director, A View from the Bridge, the National Theatre, February, 1987

chapter |2 pages

Michael Gambon

chapter |3 pages

Christopher Hampton

chapter |3 pages

Arvin Brown

Director, A View from the Bridge, Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, 1981

chapter |6 pages

Tony Lo Bianco

chapter |14 pages

Brian Cox

chapter |4 pages

Michael Blakemore

Director, After the Fall, National Theatre Production, June 1990

chapter |6 pages

David Rabe

chapter |1 pages

Vanessa Redgrave

Playing For Time, CBS Television, September, 1980

chapter |1 pages

Pat Hingle

The Price, New York, February, 1968

chapter |2 pages

Richard Dreyfuss

BBC Radio Production of The Price, 1989

chapter |1 pages

Timothy West

BBC Radio Production, 1989

chapter |3 pages

Ian Forrest with Ric Morgan, Nick Simons, Anny Tobin, Arnold Yarrow

The Director and cast of the Dukes Theatre, Lancaster's production of The Price 1990

chapter |6 pages

David Calder, Alan MacNaughtan, Bob Peck and Marjorie Yates

The Young Vic Production of The Price, February 1990

chapter |5 pages

David Thacker

in conversation with Heather Neill

chapter |2 pages

David Edgar

chapter |4 pages

Nick Hamm

Director, The Archbishop's Ceiling, Royal Shakespeare Company, October, 1986

chapter |3 pages

John Shrapnel

chapter |4 pages

Bob Peck

Two Way Mirror, The Young Vic, 1989

chapter |9 pages

David Thacker

in conversation with Heather Neill

chapter |4 pages

Malcolm Bradbury

chapter |1 pages

Peter Nichols

chapter |3 pages

Michael Billington

The Guardian

chapter |2 pages

Irving Wardle

The Sunday Independent

chapter |16 pages

Dan Sullivan

Los Angeles Times

chapter |1 pages

Michael Bryant

The American Clock, National Theatre, August, 1986

chapter |1 pages

Neil Daglish

chapter |4 pages

Sara Kestelman

chapter |11 pages

David Schofield

chapter |1 pages

John Guare

chapter |8 pages

Jacques Huisman

Théâtre National de Belgique, in conversation with Gilbert Debusscher

chapter |3 pages

Carlos Fuentes