Wife of A Salesman

Wife of a Salesman

Program Cover

By Eleanor Burgess

Review by Ernest Edwards

Have you seen the Arthur Miller play Death of a Salesman? Have you ever wondered what if the wife confronted the mistress? The Gird Friday Productions of the play Wife of a Salesman at the Gremlin Theater answers that question. 

This play came at the right time for me as was able to see the Broadway Revival of the play Death of a Salesman this past summer in New York City. That story is still fresh in mind. Wife of Salesman is a great companion piece to the classic play Death of a Salesman. 

The events in this play would take place years before Biff, the eldest son, discovered his dad Willy Loman with his mistress in Boston. This play doesn’t mention any of the characters by name, if you know Death of a Salesman, you know exactly who everyone is that referenced in this play. 

I really liked how the play was structured. Part way through the play, we learn what we are seeing is the final rehearsal before opening night. The director comes on stage, stops the action, fixes some lights, we start some scenes over, and we see the actresses stop acting and just chat with each other during the break. Then we are back at it with the story from the play. It was an interesting way to tell the story. 

The cast is perfect in their roles. The Wife is played by Mo Perry, The Mistress is played by Hannah Steblay, and Joe is played by Craig Johnson. The scenery was designed by Eric Morris, takes us to a Boston apartment in the early 1950’s. The costumes are designed by Barb Portinga. The costumes do help us identity who these two different woman are. 

We will never know if these events ever happened, but it’s a great play based on a very good what if scenario. This is an excellent companion piece to the Arthur Miller play. 

Unlike Death of a Salesman, Wife of a Salesman is 90 minutes with no intermission. 

The play runs through October 4, 2026. Check out www.girlfridayproductions.org for tickets.