Miller provided the opening tip to the personal dimension of this play by setting it just months before his ex-wife’s death. Arabian closes the case with the second Angela costume he orders from designer Traci McWain. We won’t spoil the moment by describing it. Let’s just say it begs for a stiff breeze. But so does the cobwebby plotting of Miller’s spider-and-fly tale. While an unusual amount of stage fog fills the house as audience members arrive inside the intimate Studio, it dissipates during the 75-minute show. Plenty of plot-fog, however, will be carried home by the audience.
Miller created a film noir version of the story in his screenplay Everybody Wins, starring Nick Nolte and Debra Winger. Those obsessed with solving the mystery of this odd one-act by the 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winner may want to investigate that work for clues to what happened here.
CREDITS: By Arthur Miller, directed by Michael Arabian. WITH: Beege Barkette, Jack Kehler. PRODUCTION: John Iacovelli, set; Traci McWain, costumes; Frank McKown, lights; Bob Blackburn, sound; Joe Morrissey, stage management Hayworth Theatre. August 10-31 (Opened 8/16; rev’d 8/22.) West Coast Premiere.
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