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The Man Who Had All The Luck. A Fable by Arthur Miller. Dir Sean Holmes. Donmar on tour, April 2008

Written in 1940, Miller’s play reached Broadway in 1944, closed after four performances, and knocked his career sideways. It must have been way before its time, because this play about a young man having it all while those around him fail and flounder is superb. Staged in 1944, post-depression, perhaps it was too realistic. Seeing the play today, it is about fate, acceptance, and philosophy, and sits comfortably with our modern understanding of psychological self-doubt and anxiety.

Western neuroses recur about why some of us have wealth and success and some have nothing, locally and globally. Miller’s play questions how much control we have over our own destinies, and what effect we have when we try to force events. From a go-with-the-flow attitude to make-it-happen determination, The Man Who Had All The Luck suggests a combination of the two.

David Beeves is a cheerful, self-taught motor mechanic with a small repair shop in Michigan. In love with his childhood sweetheart, all he wants is to marry Hester … but the only obstacle to his happiness is her father. In a key scene, Hester’s father forbids David from seeing her again, and tells David he is a ‘lost soul,’ seeming to damn him. The curse is David’s sense of being unworthy.

David gets his heart’s desire. Throughout the play he questions his right to happiness; is he good enough for Hester; is he a good enough mechanic? In short, does he deserve his happiness? Blessed with good fortune, it almost seems as though his luck has a supernatural quality to it. When a highly skilled visitor appears in his repair shop at four in the morning and repairs a complicated problem it feels as though an angel has come.

David becomes increasingly twitchy and nervous about his successes, the more so as the people around him suffer. His guilt and shame threaten to consume him, to destroy his sanity and his marriage. Convinced that all his luck will have to be paid for, he cannot enjoy the pleasures life has given him and he expects catastrophe to strike.

His lack of self-awareness and self-knowledge make him seem an uncomplicated fellow but David is warm-hearted, sensible and hard-working. He thinks things through, doesn’t take risks, is honest and fair. It takes a near calamity for him to understand that these qualities are enough for him to have earned his good life. He finally understands that he is worthy of all he has.

Today is a good time to have revived this play about contentment. The Donmar Warehouse have put on a terrific production with a great set, fabulous lighting, a large and excellent cast, and created a riveting show. Hester could tone down just a bit, so not to appear too hysterical - this distracts from David’s sinister descent into madness which is harrowing enough. Otherwise, highly recommended for fine acting and great quality from start to finish.

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