The Salesman (2016 film) make a film until he decided his protagonists should be stage actors. Part of this decision owed to Farhadi's own background in the theatre, and his desire to re-immerse himself in that atmosphere. He also felt actors had to think of themselves as other people and create empathy, and his male protagonist would be forced to feel empathy for another man. Looking for a play within the film, Farhadi researched the work of Jean-Paul Sartre and Henrik Ibsen before finding Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman", which he described as "a gift for me". In Miller's play and his script,
A Walk in the Woods (play) choosing instead to telescope the messy, life-or-death conflict into a sentimental relationship between two likable envoys." Alvin Klein, in reviewing the Westport Country Plahouse production for "The New York Times", wrote: "Mr. Blessing's play is a [c]one of ideas, intelligence and some semblance of wit. The dramatic action and character exposition he has provided is negligible. It remains for the actors to establish complete characters and this Mr. Constantine and Mr. Pressman do with immense skill." The play was nominated for the 1988 Tony Award , Play and Actor in a Play (Prosky). Prosky won the 1988 Outer Critics Circle