Writers of Today: Arthur Miller

Each volume of WRITERS OF TODAY is a dialogue between noted literary critic Walter Kerr and one of the best known writers of our time. Produced in the 1950s, these programs provide rare profiles of these men as they discuss contemporary literature and society at the time of their own writing peaks.

Miller expounds his views on the role of theater in society. He contends that the play is 'the last way the human race has to face itself without any intervening machinery,' that movies and television are 'filtering out the intimacy of human contact.' He envisions the playwright as an 'ordinary citizen... who can organize things dramatically.' His criticisms of theater? Prices are too high, the play has taken on the 'aura of a special event,' and audiences are drawn primarily to blockbusters.