Audience in luck at Cumbernauld

The Man Who Had All The Luck was Miller’s first play which met with less success than one might expect arguably the greatest American playwright.

“It is a relatively unknown work,” admitted director David Hutchinson. “It was his first ever play, in 1944, and didn’t do well on Broadway. In fact it folded after four performances.

“I think a big part of this failure was that at the time America was on the brink of winning the war and its bleak view of the American Dream was not what people wanted to hear.”

The titular character is David Beeves (here played by Stephen Bisland), a young mechanic living in a generic, unnamed town somewhere in the American midwest. As the title suggests, he seems to be blessed with remarkable good fortune, to the point he comes to fear the day his luck changes and tragedy strikes.

“We were attracted to this play because it’s relatively unknown, unlike The Crucible or Death Of A Salesman which have been performed to death,” said David. “It also ties in with the school curriculum which is something we always look to do with our productions, while at the same time feels fresh as not many people know it. It also has a lot of the thematic content people will recognise from other work by Miller and a really interesting narrative structure. It’s a really well-written play.”

In recent years the play has enjoyed a minor revival, including David’s work with Sell A Door Theatre Company, which sees it touring Scotland for the first time ever.

David is also looking forward to bringing the play to Cumbernauld as Sell A Door have never played the local venue before. “We’ve been at Macrobert in Stirling and did Dracula in Falkirk, but we’ve never managed to get the dates lined up in Cumbernauld until now. So it’s really nice to have the chance.”

See The Man Who Had All The Luck at Cumbernauld Theatre on Friday, October 12 at 7.45 pm. Tickets are £9/£7 concession/£5 under 18s and can be booked on 01236 732887.