YING: My head feels like a bridge that all of Beijing has been walking over…

In 1983, legendary playwright Arthur Miller embarks 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 directing, despite speaking not one word of Chinese. 

Facing the monumental challenge of presenting the quintessential American Dream play in the heart of Communist China, Ying and Miller grapple with everything from philosophy to football, all while operating under the scrutiny of a global audience. To pull it off, they must not only navigate clashing worldviews and external pressures, but also face down the ghosts of their past.

Inspired by the memoirs of Ying (with Claire Conceison) and Miller as well as other sources, Salesman in China is an epic cross-cultural adventure, suffused with humour and rooted in the universal theme of fathers and sons. It is also a timeless love letter to the theatre. Sweeping audiences along from first rehearsal to opening night, it documents an unlikely yet unforgettable East-West collaboration that speaks passionately to where we are today.

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
Commissioned by the Stratford Festival and Banff Centre for the Arts. Premiered at the Avon Theatre of the Stratford Festival in August 2024. Transferred to the National Arts Centre in January 2025.

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)


“A brilliant new play, fully ready to take the world's stages by storm.” – J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail

“A landmark piece of Canadian theatre.” – Joshua Chong, The Toronto Star

“A fascinating new bilingual play.” –Chris Jones, The Chicago Tribune

“Salesman in China, which is performed in English and Chinese (with subtitles), will become a hot title stateside… Not only is it a fascinating piece of little-known history, but the engrossing play also boils down a still-contentious, extremely complicated, massively relevant multinational divide into an idea that’s simple, timeless and universal: The show must go on.” – Johnny Oleksinski, The New York Post

“A complex, engaging and stimulating work” – Christopher Isherwood, The Wall Street Journal

“…a rich, revelatory new play.” – Martin Morrow, Critical Stages

WINNER OF THE 2024 QUEBEC WRITER’S FEDERATION AWARD

Contact:
Colin Rivers, Marquis Literary
Colin@MQent.ca