Salesman in China is at the National Arts Centre this month. Researching, co-writing, and developing this story been a huge part of the last ten years of my life, culminating in last summer’s gorgeous Stratford Festival production, stunningly directed (as well as co-written) by Jovanni Sy. Now we are bringing this show to our nation’s capital as part of Niña Lee Aquino’s NAC season… and, with widespread critical acclaim and remarkable audience response, there is a lot of interest in future iterations.
I hope to post more sorely-needed updates to this site over the coming weeks, but meanwhile wanted to draw your attention to some articles on this site where you can see moments of our process for this production. Starting with this remarkable photo of Li Shilong and Mi Tiezeng – two of the original actors in Ying Ruocheng and Arthur Miller’s incredible-but-true 1983 production of Death of a Salesman at the Beijing People’s Art Theatre – whom we met and interviewed thanks to our beneficent fairy godmother (and Ying Ruocheng’s co-autobiographer) Dr. Claire Conceison. Claire also introduced us to our brilliant Chinese translator, Fang Zhang. You'll see their photos on the pages of this web site, too.
Li Shilong and Mi Tiezeng stand in front of the photo of their younger selves as Biff and Happy in Arthur Miller’s landmark 1983 production of Death of a Salesman at the Beijing People’s Art Theatre. Photo by Leanna Brodie, 2017.
A very incomplete sketch of our process:
Around 2014: I read Arthur Miller’s Salesman in Beijing and immediately propose to Jovanni that we adapt the story into a play. He says yes. After over 20 years as a couple, it will be our first artistic collaboration ever, and only the first of many huge risks we will take together on this project.
2016: Small research/writing grant for me from City of Richmond BC. I discover the autobiography that Ying Ruocheng co-wrote with Dr. Claire Conceison, Voices Carry: Backstage and Behind Bars During China’s Cultural Revolution and Reform. Some time later, I reach out to Dr. Conceison, who becomes an important ally in the play’s development.
2017: Jovanni and I begin 3-year writing residency, The Associates, with Playwrights Theatre Centre, Vancouver, to work on Salesman in China.
June 2017: Jovanni and I travel to Beijing with PTC dramaturg Kathleen Flaherty. Thanks to Dr. Conceison’s connections, we are able to tour the Beijing People’s Art Theatre; see a rehearsal of their signature play, Lao She’s Teahouse; and meet associates of Ying Ruocheng, including Li Shilong and Mi Tiezeng.
2018: Working on the play at the Stratford Festival Playwrights Retreat.
Fall 2018: A reading at PTC.
Fall 2018: The Wuchien Michael Than Fund is so essential to the flourishing of Asian Canadian art and artists in this country, and we were grateful for their support.
2019: This time ted witzel brings us to Stratford through the R&D Lab, where we make some important discoveries about how the multilingual nature of the play is going to work. Banff, around this point, comes on with Stratford as co-commissioners of the play. (Colin Rivers of Marquis Literary works his usual magic, and Antoni Cimolino and Brian Quirt having the audacity to support this impossibly epic endeavour.)
2020: 🌎🎭💤
2021: Thanks to Brian Quirt, we are part of the Banff 2021 Playwrights Lab (Virtual Edition), including a very informative Zoom reading of Salesman in China.
Spring 2022: After a fruitful translation-focused workshop at the Banff Centre with our translator Fang Zhang, assistant director Nick Wang, cultural consultant/translation dramaturg Prof. Steven Liu, and dramaturg Bob White, we have our first reading and workshop of the fully bilingual script in Stratford. Shortly after this, we are on a production track at Stratford.
Summer 2023: Design workshop for Salesman in China at Stratford. It turns out to be a crucial step, not only for unlocking our approach to surtitling, but also because it allows Jovanni and our designers to evolve a process and language for working together. (In 2024, production staff at the Festival are astonished at how smoothly our show comes together during tech week. As well as Jovanni’s clear communication, and the vision, dedication, and generosity of the designers, I think this is part of the reason why.)
2024: Premiere of Salesman in China at the Stratford Festival. A phenomenal experience. I think we pretty much surpass all expectations, including our own, and we do it on the shoulders of every single person involved in this production. And on the wings of a truly inspiring story.
