Exploiting the Boundary between Theatre and Video Games: A Critical Exploration of Death of a Salesman as a Video Game

Abstract

This paper is an exploration and comparison of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, where its elements are sifted out, which are akin to those of a video game. The selected play, being expressionistic in nature, is experimental with lighting, time, sound, and a narrative, as video games functioned on these as fundamental characteristics in order to be delineated as one. Similar to a video game, the play is centered on a tragic modern hero who instigates a series of unfortunate events shaped around his mental state and perspective. The study uses qualitative methods and textual analysis to undermine the boundary between theatre and video games, provided that these are diametric mediums. It is an attempt to boil down the superficial performative differences prevalent in these forms and probe into the intersecting primary components. The research employs an amalgamation of Aristotle’s conceptions of plot, Richard Schechner’s notion of time, and Mark J. P. Wolf’s development of video game studies as a framework for this comparison. The findings revealed that similarities between the structure of theatre and video games are clearly evident in works like Death of a Salesman, while performance serves as the foundation for both mediums, making their commonalities undeniable upon reflection.