Even minor pieces by major writers are worthy of attention. When Arthur Miller's "The American Clock" tried out for Broadway at the Mechanic Theatre in 1980, the playwright hadn't had a success since "The Price," 12 years earlier, and his only interim Broadway effort, "The Creation of the World and Other Business," was short-lived.
"The American Clock" was hardly a Broadway triumph (nor was "Broken Glass," his under-appreciated return to Broadway last season). But as Theatre Hopkins' current revival indicates, "The American Clock" is in many ways typical Miller, typical Americana and an expansive -- sometimes overly expansive -- evening of theater.
Miller's canvas in "The American Clock" is at once smaller than "Creation's" Genesis, larger than "Death of a Salesman's" nuclear family, and a little of both. Miller adapted the script in part from Studs Terkel's chronicle of Depression-era America, "Hard Times." Like Terkel's book, it's peopled with a wide range of characters -- businessmen, farmers, housewives and hobos.
The Broadway production used 15 actors to fill this plethora of roles. At Theatre Hopkins, director Suzanne Pratt floods the stage with more than 20. It's a luxury that non-commercial little theater can afford, but it's still excessive; in a second-act subway scene, for example, the over-crowded stage simply adds confusion.
The play is structured as a series of vignettes, but it also zeros in on a central family, the Baums, whose jolt from prosperity to bankruptcy personalizes the condition of much of the country beginning in 1929.
Pratt has three skilled actors in these crucial roles. As Lee, the Baums' son, who begins the play as a teen-ager and grows up to be a writer, Jack Manion conveys intelligence, curiosity and good old American resilience. Stan Weiman exudes decency as his father.
But it is Judy Shannon's portrayal of Lee's mother that is the emotional core of the play. Shannon plays her as a warm, cultured woman who initially can face her family's diminished circumstances, but as the play progresses, she loses her courage, beliefs and sanity. Her mental decline mirrors the nation's declining economic health.
The play also has a recurring character whose situation is the opposite of most of the rest of the country.
Arthur Robertson is a big businessman who not only weathers the Depression, he also profits from it. As played by Mark E. Campion, whether observing from the sidelines or holding forth from center stage, he has the superior, malevolent air of a smiling bearer of bad news.
Although the rest of the supporting cast is uneven, memorable performances are given by Michael Salconi as a defeated Iowa farmer, Faye Smith as a Communist organizer, and especially Rohn Luckett as a hobo whose monologues form a leitmotif reminding the audience of the fate of the dispossessed.
Period music is woven throughout the play. At first, the cast members' delivery of the upbeat songs enhances their high spirits. Later, it becomes an ironic commentary, especially when you realize that scenes of the homeless and unemployed are disturbingly up-to-date.
The play's title comes from Robertson's comment: "There's never been a society that hasn't had a clock running on it."
In America, we tend to measure time in terms of either triumphs or catastrophes, overlooking the lesser events in between. "The American Clock" isn't one of its author's great events, but Arthur Miller fans, in particular, may want to take advantage of this rare opportunity to give it another look.
'THE AMERICAN CLOCK'
Where: Theatre Hopkins, Merrick Barn, Johns Hopkins University
When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:15 p.m. Sundays, 7:30 p.m. March 12; through March 19
Tickets: $10 and $12
Call: (410) 516-7159