"Wife of a Salesman" by Girl Friday Productions at Gremlin Theatre

A decade or so ago, Girl Friday Productions' performance model was one show every two years, focusing on large-cast American classics, and it was always worth waiting for. Then the pandemic happened, and a change in Artistic Director, to shake things up a little. But now they're back, three years since their last show, and hopefully will move into a regular cadence moving forward. Because while the model might have changed a little - their current show is the new play Wife of a Salesman with just a four-person cast - it's still worth the wait. Perhaps their new niche is new plays that examine classic plays (their last one was Aaron Posner's Life Sucks, very loosely based on Chekhov's Uncle Vanya). This Wife is a fantastic commentary not just on Arthur Miller's American tragedy Death of a Salesman, but on gender roles and women's rights in the last century, and in this one. The short run concludes next weekend, so get yourself to Gremlin Theatre to avoid missing another rare gem by Girl Friday Productions! If you don't, you may have to wait another 2-3 years for the next one. 

While the titular salesman Willy Loman is never mentioned by name, he looms large in the story. And if you don't know the original play, you'll learn all you need to know from the dialogue between "the wife" and "the mistress" when the former shows up at the latter's door, armed and ready for a confrontation. Their conversation is a fascinating one, alternating between hostility and companionship, as they share about this man they both love. The two women are complete opposites, one dedicated to her role as wife and mother, the other always looking for fun and excitement, but the situation is a little more nuanced than that. And just when you think you know what this play is, it becomes something entirely different. The clever script succeeds on multiple levels, and asks as many questions as it answers about marriage, motherhood, and what it is to be a woman in this world, then and now.

Mo Perry and Hannah Steblay (photo by Sobottka Photography)

Not just the script, but also this production succeeds, in playing all of the layers of this story and these characters. Girl Friday's new Artistic Director Megan K. Pence (who is also the Executive Director of Lakeshore Players Theatre and leading them to great things) masterfully directs this tricky play, in a way that's both surprising and crystal clear. Most of the show is a two-hander, and it's a joy to watch Mo Perry (wife) and Hannah Steblay (mistress) volley back and forth. They make these stereotypical characters into something complex and human, and accomplish the twists expertly. But it's not really a two-hander, Craig Johnson also makes a delightfully meta appearance in a minor but pivotal role, and even Megan gets in on the action briefly. 

The design of the production does a lot of story work too. The play takes place entirely in the mistress' apartment, and it's all girly pink '50s chic - floral wallpaper, cozy pillow-strewn day bed with magazine photos on the wall, couch with a pink slipcover (it's reversable!), vintage kitchen table, and period appropriate props like a rotary phone and a radio. And that radio is important to the plot, as the mistress listens to romantic radio plays, voiced by founding Artistic Director Kirby Bennett, Sam Landman, Brandt Roberts (who also designed the props), and D'aniel Stock (sound designer). The cast is dressed in character-appropriate period clothing - neat and conservative skirt and blouse for the wife, comfy PJs and robe for the mistress (scenic design by Eric Morris, with help from Laura Rudoph Morris, costume design by Barb Portinga).

If you're looking for a smart, funny play, with a bit of inside-theater fun, do not miss Wife of a Salesman, a continuation of Girl Friday's rare and worthy work.