{"id":57605,"date":"2026-07-19T01:07:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T05:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/?p=57605"},"modified":"2026-07-19T01:07:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T05:07:37","slug":"stratford-salesman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2026\/07\/stratford-salesman\/","title":{"rendered":"Stratford Festival Review: Tom McCamus in <em>Death of a Salesman<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">Years ago, I saw Tom McCamus in a coffee shop. I was probably in my early twenties and I&#8217;m surely not remembering it accurately but, as the encounter lives in my mind, he was wearing a leather jacker (highly improbable) and drinking straight espresso with lots of sugar (fucking iconic). What is definitely true is that he was simply sitting alone, merely existing, in a small town coffee shop and my immediate, clear as a bell reaction was \u201cOMG, that\u2019s Tom McCamus!\u201d. Not out loud of course; I\u2019m cooler than that (highly improbable). Tom McCamus is not a man you do not notice.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The casting of Stratford\u2019s current production of <em>Death of a Salesman<\/em> is an obvious callback to their hit 2024 production of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2024\/10\/stratford-2024-plays\/\"><em>Salesman in China<\/em><\/a>, in which McCamus delivered a nuanced and memorable performance as playwright Arthur Miller. I understand the temptation. Soulpepper had great success casting Diego Matamoros back to back as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2012\/08\/soulpeppers-royal-comedians\/\">Moli\u00e8re<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2014\/09\/soulpeppers-current-class-tartuffe-the-crucible\/\">Tartuffe<\/a>. It\u2019s a relatable impulse to want to conflate an author with his most famous creation. But Miller was a generational genius who married Marilyn Monroe. Had I seen him in a coffee shop, I surely would have proclaimed \u201cOMG it\u2019s Arthur Miller!\u201d (Again, not out loud, because super cool). Willy Loman, the titular hero of <em>Death of a Salesman<\/em>, is the definitive everyman. He\u2019s literally used in English class to teach the concept of the everyman. His dreams of grandeur and destructive self delusion facilitate the play\u2019s tragedy as they rest on the flimsy foundation of his \u201cdime a dozen\u201d reality. Willy Loman wishes he was Tom McCamus.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">McCamus is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2017\/09\/shaw-17-so-so\/\">great<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2022\/09\/soulpepper-lear-goneril\/\">king<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2010\/08\/the-myth-of-peter\/\">a pirate<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2013\/11\/stratford-2013-wrap-up-the-shakespeare\/\">a priest<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2016\/09\/stratfords-2016-modern-drama\/\">a lion<\/a>. What he is not is an everyman. Even as age pulls clarity away from his signature grumble, it\u2019s hard to imagine McCamus speaking without everyone in the room perking up to listen. He is un-overlook-able. He is therefore, in this role, some of the worst casting I\u2019ve seen at the festival in a long time. The full ensemble of this mostly fine production of a landmark piece of writing struggles with realism, meeting the moment of Miller\u2019s thunderous climaxes but oversaturating the perhaps more important quiet humanity. A few supporting characters fare best- Matthew Kabwe\u2019s Charley is a prince among men and Raymond Strachan makes a promising debut in the important but tiny role of Bernard. David W Keeley is probably, for completely the wrong reasons, my favourite piece of casting as he towers over McCamus playing his remembered brother Ben, creating in a literal sense what should be metaphorically present through the whole piece- Loman\u2019s smallness.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2011\/02\/my-theatre-nominees-qa-with-dean-gabourie\/\">Dean Gabourie<\/a>\u2019s direction is straightforward, Scott Penner\u2019s set design simple and functional, as if the creative team\u2019s admirable focus was to get out of the way of the text. But at the end of the day, casting is the key decision that will make or break a production like this and, regardless of the prestige or skill of a great actor, not everyone is meant for every role and McCamus is too much for Loman.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Years ago, I saw Tom McCamus in a coffee shop. I was probably in my early twenties and I&#8217;m surely not remembering it accurately but, as the encounter lives in my mind, he was wearing a leather jacker (highly improbable) and drinking straight espresso with lots of sugar (fucking iconic). What is definitely true is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57607,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[4,2490,6,29,365],"coauthors":[1858],"class_list":["post-57605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-theatre","tag-contemporary-theatre","tag-miller","tag-reviews","tag-the-stratford-shakespeare-festival","tag-theatre-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/death-of-a-salesman-dhou-994-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7890,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2010\/09\/dangerously-awesome-liaisons\/","url_meta":{"origin":57605,"position":0},"title":"Dangerously Awesome Liaisons","author":"Kelly Bedard","date":"14 September 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Dangerous Liaisons (at the Stratford Festival this season) is pretty badass. It's badass in embarrassingly large and frilly french wigs (Yanna McIntosh as Mme de Volanges wears a particularly silly one). It's badass in petticoats, badass in tights and badass while perched daintily on lavishly ornate pieces of furniture. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Theatre&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/dangerousliaisons.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/dangerousliaisons.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/dangerousliaisons.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/dangerousliaisons.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26693,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2014\/08\/stratford-king-john-understudies\/","url_meta":{"origin":57605,"position":1},"title":"In Stratford: King John &#038; The Understudies","author":"Kelly Bedard","date":"20 August 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The first thing you need to know is that I saw a very different King John than the rest of you will. Arriving at the theatre, I opened my program to discover, with utter heartbreak, that the wonderful Graham Abbey was out for the evening and would be replaced by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Theatre&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/105_King-John_On-The-Run_DH-copy-1024x682-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/105_King-John_On-The-Run_DH-copy-1024x682-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/105_King-John_On-The-Run_DH-copy-1024x682-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/105_King-John_On-The-Run_DH-copy-1024x682-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16584,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2012\/07\/in-stratford-the-matchmaker\/","url_meta":{"origin":57605,"position":2},"title":"In Stratford: The Matchmaker","author":"Kelly Bedard","date":"23 July 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Even if I have to dig ditches for the rest of my life, I'll be a ditch digger who once had a wonderful day\" - Cornelius Hackl, the brightly optimistic heart of Stratford's uneven but partly adorable oldschool comedy. \u00a0 I was highly skeptical of The Matchmaker, knowing that it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Theatre&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Matchmaker.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Matchmaker.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Matchmaker.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Matchmaker.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8123,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2011\/10\/in-stratford-the-grapes-of-wrath\/","url_meta":{"origin":57605,"position":3},"title":"In Stratford: The Grapes of Wrath","author":"Kelly Bedard","date":"06 October 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Ranking: #5 Frank Galati\u2019s stage adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath is incredibly demanding. With no fewer than 61 characters (not including \u201cTravellers, Guards, Strikers, Citizens and Hoopermen\u201d), an on-stage river, a rainstorm, ever-changing locales and a moving vehicle of remarkable size, it\u2019s a wonder that any company would consider\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Theatre&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/tgow_vg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/tgow_vg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/tgow_vg.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28326,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2015\/01\/crows-seagull\/","url_meta":{"origin":57605,"position":4},"title":"Crow&#8217;s Seagull","author":"Kelly Bedard","date":"20 January 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Chris Abraham knows how to assemble a cast. The Seagull-\u00a0his latest production for Crow\u2019s Theatre, currently playing at the Berkeley- sports the director's most perfectly constructed ensemble yet with some of Canada\u2019s greatest actors each playing their strongest notes with a key lack of background noise to distract from Chekhov\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Theatre&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/seagull_1300x800_crows-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/seagull_1300x800_crows-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/seagull_1300x800_crows-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/seagull_1300x800_crows-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39539,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2017\/09\/shaw-17-so-so\/","url_meta":{"origin":57605,"position":5},"title":"Shaw \u201917: So-So","author":"Kelly Bedard","date":"11 September 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The thing to understand about the so-so list for The Shaw Festival this year is that they're all pretty good productions; they mostly didn't make the cut to be must-sees on account of the expectations game. All the over-promoted stuff of the year is on this list, the things that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Theatre&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/6.Dracula_1298_EC.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Pp3m-eZ7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57605"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57613,"href":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57605\/revisions\/57613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57605"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=57605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}