Salesman in China
推销员在中国

Toronto Premiere

In the main rehearsal room of the Beijing People’s Art Theatre in 1983, the actors have just completed their first read-through of a Chinese translation of Arthur Miller’s Great American Drama, “Death of a Salesman”. Legendary actor Ying Ruocheng, who plays Willy Loman in the production, thanks the company before introducing the guest of honour, Arthur Miller, who has just arrived in China, with his wife Inge Morath, to direct the play. The eyes of the world are fixed on the production, which signals a thawing in the two nations’ icy relations.

Ying quickly discovers that there are more cultural bridges than just the language barrier to cross. Long shut off from the West, the Chinese public is oblivious to the cultural touchstones in Miller’s work. China is a land without travelling salesmen or insurance policies or personal automobiles—how will the collaborators illuminate the play’s thematic depths for an audience as culturally distinct and idiosyncratic as their American counterparts? Ying’s position also forces him to appease the egos and ambitions of various government officials and attachés, as well as the mercurial Cao Yu, the celebrated playwright and artistic director of the People’s Art Theatre.

Commissioned by the Stratford Festival, where it premiered in 2024, Leanna Brodie and Jovanni Sy’s SALESMAN IN CHINA brings that daring act of cultural cross-pollination to life. Shifting seamlessly between Mandarin and English, the play becomes an act of translation, inviting the audience to imagine bold new interpretations of Miller’s iconic tragedy and all works of art.

This play is presented in English and Mandarin with surtitles.

Developed with support from the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund.

SALESMAN IN CHINA 推销员在中国
By Leanna Brodie 白仁耐and Jovanni Sy 施崇梵
Suggested by the memoirs of Arthur Miller and Ying Ruocheng
Chinese Translations by Fang Zhang
Directed by Jovanni Sy
Produced by the Stratford Festival