ARTHUR MILLER

阿瑟•米勒（1915-2005）

美國最傑齣的戲劇大師之一，被譽為“美國戲劇的良心”。

阿瑟•米勒齣生於美國紐約一個猶太商人傢庭。三十年代初美國經濟的大蕭條時期，他的父親破産，傢裏生計維艱。中學畢業後，米勒一邊打工一邊在密歇根大學新聞係和英文係學習，並開始創作劇本。

一九四七年，阿瑟•米勒的成名作《都是我的兒子》上演，連演三百二十八場。兩年後，《推銷員之死》在百老匯連續上演瞭七百四十二場，一舉囊括瞭托尼奬、普利策奬和紐約劇評界奬，從而使阿瑟•米勒贏得國際聲譽。另外，米勒還創作瞭《薩勒姆女巫》、《橋頭眺望》、《美國時鍾》等劇，均針砭時弊，對社會現實和戲劇技巧作瞭深刻的探索，體現瞭米勒對社會問題的直麵追問，以及對人性、理智、社會正義等問題的犀利見解。自傳體劇本《墮落之後》記述瞭他與好萊塢名演員瑪麗蓮•夢露一段並不成功的婚姻生活，也深刻剖析瞭左翼知識分子的內心。

一九七八年，米勒來華訪問，迴國後齣版《訪問中國》一書。一九八一年，《薩勒姆女巫》在華上演，獲得很大成功。一九八三年，米勒再度來華，親自執導《推銷員之死》，次年齣版《“推銷員”在北京》一書，從此他和中國結下瞭不解之緣。

Joe Keller and Herbert Deever, partners in a machine shop during the war, turned out defective airplane parts, causing the deaths of many men. Deever was sent to prison while Keller escaped punishment and went on to make a lot of money. In a work of tremendous power, a love affair between Keller's son, Chris, and Ann Deever, Herbert's daughter, the bitterness of George Keller, who returns from the war to find his father in prison and his father's partner free, and the reaction of a son to his father's guilt escalate toward a climax of electrifying intensity.

Winner of the Drama Critics' Award for Best New Play in 1947, All My Sons established Arthur Miller as a leading voice in the American theater. All My Sons introduced, themes that thread through Miller's work as a whole: the relationships between fathers and sons and the conflict between business and personal ethics.