The Factor of Design

Extract

When we were putting on Arthur Miller's All My Sons in New Haven and I was talking with Arthur about the function of scene design, he said, “Don't talk to me about stage form, scene design and all that. What matters in the theatre is character and situation.” I was about to say something in answer when a friend of Arthur's who was present warned me, “Arthur is tense about the show.” So of course I dropped the subject. Afterwards I went to Europe, where I spent three years doing research for the Rockefeller Foundation. When I came back I saw Miller at his home. In the meantime I had read the introduction which he wrote for Death of a Salesman, in which he stated how much he owed to Jo Mielziner, who had designed that play: if it wasn't for Jo's contribution scenically the play wouldn't have taken die form that it did, and so on, very laudatory.