Theater

“Death of a Salesman”: The plotting is ham-fisted, the female characters unsatisfying and it’s too long, but I defy you to look away from the psychological train wreck that is the world of Willy Loman, whose ride “on a smile and a shoeshine” is heading for an ugly end. This staging of Arthur Miller’s 1949 warhorse by Miss O Productions features a vehement, brave performance from Eddie Jones as the compulsive, ferociously hopeful salesman self-destructing from his addiction to success. If director Bob Collins’ production lacks a certain poetry, it still bares real heart and soul.

-- Charlotte Stoudt

Ends Sunday at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West L.A.

(310) 477-2055