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Play reimagines Arthur Miller’s staging in China of his drama Death of a Salesman

  • Salesman in China recounts Miller and Ying Ruocheng’s Cold War-era collaboration on a Chinese version of the anti-capitalist play

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From left: Steven Hao, Howard Dai, Adrian Pang and Tom McCamus in a scene from Salesman in China during its premiere at the 2024 Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada. Photo: David Hou

In 1983, Arthur Miller directed a landmark version of his play Death of a Salesman in Beijing with a full Chinese cast performing in Mandarin.

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It was a touchstone moment in Sino-American cultural relations, not just because of the ideological significance of staging a work so critical of American capitalism in the heart of Communist China, but it also brought together each country’s leading dramatic personality for a collaboration still talked about in theatre circles.

Miller was the pre-eminent writer known by many, but Ying Ruocheng – who translated the play into Chinese and played the lead role of Willy Loman – was just as monumental a figure.

The accomplished actor and playwright lived through the Cultural Revolution, and was exiled to a labour camp. Later, he was restored to his place, and went on to serve as vice-minister of culture from 1986 to 1990. Hollywood even called on him, with roles in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Little Buddha and The Last Emperor.
Actor and playwright Ying Ruocheng at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, in Hong Kong, in 1985. Photo: SCMP
Actor and playwright Ying Ruocheng at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, in Hong Kong, in 1985. Photo: SCMP

His complicated collaboration with Miller on Death of A Salesman has now been turned into its own semi-fictitious drama, premiering this month at The Stratford Festival’s Avon Theatre (it opens on August 26, with previews from August 3). The Canadian festival is known for its Shakespeare line-up, but it has also developed a reputation for staging new works.

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Salesman In China is written by Jovanni Sy and Leanna Brodie, two veterans of the Canadian stage and real-life partners. Sy, who is Chinese-Canadian, is also serving as director.

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