Death of a Salesman Rehearsal Plan

We chose the conversation between Howard and Willy that ends up

with Willy being fired because we believed that this was the most
important and significant dialogue to occur within the text. It was a
clear portrayal of Willy as a failing salesman that distinguished him
from the arrogant successful nature of Howard. Most of all, the section
outlined and explained Willys past as well as the reason he became a
salesman. Ivan and I also liked how it mentioned the phrase death of
a salesman as an easter egg.
We started off by researching what the exact natures of the two
characters were like through the internet and book itself. We tried to
play out and visualize what the setting would be like during drama
periods. After reading through the dialogue several times as well as
reading the whole text, we formulated a more detailed script of our
duologue. This script more clearly outlined what each characters
feelings, thoughts, variation of sound and facial expressions would be
in every single line. We even cut out a paragraph that we agreed was
unnecessary to the building of our characters given the time limit we
had to stick within.
However, as we went through our script over and over again, sitting
down, we realised that there needed to be more action within the
dialogue that was still realistic and true to the characters. We started
brainstorming props to add, attire of the characters, objects within the
room and interactions with the space that emphasized the desires of
the characters.
When we were starting to become stuck within our own ideas, we
decided to download a film version of Death of a Salesman to be able
to see on screen how Willy and Howards relationship unfolded.
Drawing inspiration from the movie, we adjusted some lines because
we thought that they felt more natural.
During our rehearsals, sometimes it would be extremely difficult for
Ivan and I to truly feel or let ourselves become the character. This
was because we didnt fully relate to the character given our
circumstances. Yet i overcame my difficulty in understanding Willy not
as a character, but a person, by imagining myself 40 years later,
disappointment that i had not achieved all the goals that i
optimistically believe i will achieve now. This really shook and shivered
my spine, which channeled into my voice and body when i shouted the
line I put 34 years into the company!. In that 3 or so seconds, i had
really became Willy, the old and failed salesman.

One of the main considerations that helped the fleshing out of

characters within our minds was analysing what the objectives of our
characters were in every word they uttered. But even knowing the
objective of my character when he grabs Howard by the collar, an
action we had written in, it was hard to actually portray it because i
wasnt actually angry at Ivan and there is a huge difference between
acting angry and actually being angry. As contradictory as it may
seem, it was actually the imagination and over-the-top-ness that
helped in showcasing my character for what he really was in that
situation.
When a boxer punches a still bag, he feels less weight than if the bag
was moving towards him when he punches it. The same applies to
speech or emotion. When Willy is angry and begs Howard, the fact that
Howard wanted nothing more than to get away from Willy was a factor
that helps the atmosphere of realism of the performance when both
actors have gotten the mindsets of their respective characters
embedded in their minds.