The Man Who Had All The Luck
You make your own luck, according to Arthur Miller’s early, flawed fable of American life.
The Royal Lyceum have certainly made their own good fortune by having John Dove direct his third Miller for them.
He doesn’t gloss over the text’s failings in its plotting and devices, but uses them for what they are while emphasising the strengths in ensemble scenes and character development.
Which leaves a strong cast to have a ball. Philip Cumbus plays to the depths of Davie Beeves, at first gloriously happy-go-lucky, but then coming to fear his good fortune.
Kim Gerard skates lightly through the early slight portrayal of his sweetheart Hester, but provides some real meat when, as his wife, she tries to find a resolution to his troubles.
Andrew Vincent gives a boyish enthusiasm to Davie’s older mentor, the childless JB Feller, if no glimpse of his talked-of alcoholism. Matthew Pidgeon is spot-on as the curmudgeonly fatalist Shory, and Richard Addison rounds out miserly mink farmer Dan Dibble, whose posh car Davie succeeds in mending.
It’s that fulcrum moment of car maintenance which Dove most successfully finesses. Greg Powrie makes believable - just - the miraculous appearance of Austrian mechanic Gustav Eberson which really sets Davie up.
In Ron Donachie and Perri Snowdon’s turns as Davie’s obsessive father and his baseball-pitching brother, there are glimpses of a future Salesman.
Michael Taylor’s design, evocatively lit by Jeanine Davies, ably supports without ever suffocating this truly fascinating and oddly timely production.
Production information
- By:
- Arthur Miller
- Management:
- By arrangement with Josef Weinberger Limited
- Cast:
- Philip Cumbus, Matthew Pidgeon, Andrew Vincent, Peter Harding, Ron Donachie, Perri Snowdon, Kim Gerard, Richard Addison, Greg Powrie, Isabella Jarrett
- Director:
- John Dove
- Design:
- Michael Taylor
- Lighting:
- Jeanine Davies
Production information can change over the run of the show.
Run sheet
- Royal Lyceum Edinburgh
- January 17-February 14 2009
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