Salesman in China
推销员在中国
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“Salesman in China is a BRILLIANT new play, fully ready to take the world’s stages by storm” J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail
- In-person event
- English
- Ages 14+
- ≈ 2 hours and 25 minutes · With intermission
An NAC English Theatre revival of the Stratford Festival production
In 1983, legendary playwright Arthur Miller embarked on an audacious journey to China, joining forces with theatre luminary Ying Ruocheng and the Beijing People's Art Theatre. Their ambitious project? Staging a Mandarin-language production of Death of a Salesman, with Ying portraying the iconic Willy Loman and Miller – despite not speaking a word of Mandarin – directing.
Facing the monumental challenge of presenting a play deeply rooted in the American Dream to a Communist Chinese audience, Ying and Miller grapple with logistical and personal obstacles, while operating under the scrutiny of a global audience. Skillfully navigating clashing worldviews and external pressures, their experience serves as a litmus test for the power of art to bring these two polarized worlds together.
Drawing inspiration from the memoirs of Miller and Ruocheng, playwrights Leanna Brodie and Jovanni Sy take audiences from the rehearsal hall to opening night and unveil the unlikely East-West collaboration that forged a daring international alliance on the stage.
Presented in English and Mandarin, with subtitles.
Developed with support from the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund.
Salesman in China
By Leanna Brodie and Jovanni Sy
Suggested by the memoirs of Arthur Miller and Ying Ruocheng
Chinese Translations by Fang Zhang
Directed by Jovanni Sy
Literary Acknowledgements :
Salesman in Beijing
by Arthur Miller with photographs by Inge Morath
Voices Carry: Behind Bars and Backstage during China's Revolution and Reform
by Ying Ruocheng and Claire Conceison
Death of a Salesman
a play by Arthur Miller, Chinese translation by Ying Ruocheng
World Premiere
- By Leanna Brodie and Jovanni Sy
- Suggested by the memoirs of Arthur Miller and Ying Ruocheng
- Chinese Translations by Fang Zhang
- Directed by Jovanni Sy
