Editor's Note

Abstract

This issue of The Arthur Miller Journal is the first to focus on a specific topic. Miller consistently dramatized how his protagonists meet at where the private and the public intersect. Throughout his canon, characters such as Joe Keller, Willy Loman, John Proctor, Eddie Carbone, Phillip Gellburg, and Lyman Felt must strive, as Miller wrote in “The Family in Modern Drama,” to “change and overcome within himself and outside himself.” For example, in The Crucible John Proctor's private sins are made public; in All My Sons Joe Keller denies his personal connection to society; Lyman Felt indulges his private passions with disregard for society in The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Eddie Carbone is deemed unworthy by his community in A View From the Bridge.Arthur Miller struggled just like his characters. He was a private man, but also an artist who led a very public life. His social views and his political activism complicated the criticism of his plays. His personal life frequently became public fodder.This issue contains essays that consider portrayals of Miller's private and public persona and his private and public actions. “Arthur Miller: Writer: A Symposium on Rebecca Miller's HBO Documentary” is a compilation of commentary that I collected from Miller scholars. This important film (which premiered on HBO in March 2018) by Rebecca Miller, who has forged an illustrious career as a director, gives an intimate portrait of the writer who was also her father. Culled from interviews she did over many years with Miller, his family, his friends, and some colleagues, the documentary offers private views of the famous playwright. The many voices of Miller scholars analyze the documentary from their varied critical perspectives.The documentary is followed by “Fallen Critic: The Undocumented Dramas of Bernard Weinraub.” Joshua Polster unravels the accuracy of Bernard Weinraub's new play Fall, a fictional account of the personal struggles of Miller and Inge Morath over their son Daniel, who was born with Down syndrome. The play harshly accuses the playwright of erasing Daniel from his life in order to protect his image and career. Polster shows how Fall was built largely on conjecture by a flawed playwright. In the final essay, “Why I Broke Down When Arthur Miller Died,” playwright Frank Gagliano details his personal and professional connection to Miller.This edition also contains an inaugural book review by our editor, Stefani Koorey, and a host of performance reviews of exciting American and international productions of Miller plays both on land and at sea.