Photo by Maria Baranova-Suzuki
written by Jeremy Tiang
directed and developed by Michael Leibenluft
At the Connelly Theater
OCTOBER 10–28
Produced by Yangtze Rep in association with Gung Ho Projects
“Based on the wild true story of Arthur Miller — who very much did not speak Mandarin — going to Beijing in 1983 to direct an all-Chinese cast in a production of Death of a Salesman…an incredible concept.” —Vulture
In the spring of 1983, in a groundbreaking act of cross-cultural collaboration, Arthur Miller accepted an invitation to direct his play Death of a Salesman with an all-Chinese cast at the Beijing People’s Art Theatre despite not speaking a word of Mandarin. The production was a resounding success due, in no small part, to the multilingual talents of renowned Chinese actor Ying Ruocheng (Bertolucci's The Last Emperor) who translated the text and played Willy Loman.
This extraordinary encounter, which Miller detailed in his memoir Salesman in Beijing, is the inspiration for Salesman之死, which centers on Shen Huihui, a young university professor, who is summoned to the theater for a special task: to interpret for Arthur Miller, who will soon arrive to direct his iconic play – in Mandarin. Meanwhile, the Chinese ensemble, newly out of the Cultural Revolution, has never met “a salesman.” Will they be able to find common ground? Mostly based on true events, Salesman之死 is a multilingual tale of cultural confusion, impossible translation, and unexpected encounters amid the chaos of theater making.
A note on the title: 之死 (pronounced “zhīsǐ”) means “death of” – so Salesman之死 simply means “Death of a Salesman.” The bilingual title reflects the hybrid nature of the play, which moves freely and fluidly across languages and cultures.
Salesman之死 is performed in English and Mandarin with corresponding surtitles in both languages.
About the Artists
Jeremy Tiang 程异
Jeremy (he/they) is a playwright, novelist, and translator from Chinese. His work for the stage includes A Dream of Red Pavilions, The Last Days of Limehouse and Salesman之死, as well as translations of plays by Chen Si'an, Wei Yu-Chia and Quah Sy Ren. He has also translated over thirty books, including novels by Lo Yi-Chin, Yeng Pway Ngon, Yan Ge, Zhang Yueran and Shuang Xuetao, as well as Zou Jingzhi’s Ninth Building, which was longlisted for the International Booker Prize. His novel State of Emergency won the Singapore Literature Prize in 2018. Originally from Singapore, he now lives in Flushing, Queens. www.JeremyTiang.com
Michael Leibenluft 李迈
Michael (he/him) is a bilingual, Obie Award-winning theater and film director and educator. For Gung Ho Projects: Flood in the Valley, a bilingual folk musical set in Liangshan, Sichuan and Appalachia and a festival of Taiwanese queer plays in translation. For Yangtze Rep: June is the First Fall by Yilong Liu. Other projects include: I’ll Never Love Again (a chamber piece) by Clare Barron at the Bushwick Starr, The Whore from Ohio by Hanoch Levin with New Yiddish Rep, The Subtle Body by Megan Campisi at 59E59 and the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, North Bank Suzhou Creek by William Sun at the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel with Drum Tower West Theater in Beijing, and the docuseries “How to Have Sex in a Pandemic.”
The Cast
Sandia Ang 翁春晓
Sandia, a native of China, received her Master’s Degree in Voice Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. She has appeared as Lady Thiang in The King and I at different theaters including the Paper Mill Playhouse, and the Taj Mahal, in Atlantic City. Ms. Ang has performed as Eva in The Floating Box at The New York Asia Society; and as The Doctor in Angels’ Voices at the Kennedy Center. She takes special pride in presenting Chinese Music to western audiences. Musicfromchina.org has featured Sandia as a soloist in their concerts.
Sonnie Brown
Sonnie is excited to be working with Yangtze Repertory Theatre in Salesman之死. She was last seen in the Civilians project The Unbelieving, in the Ma-Yi production of Once Upon A (korean) Time, and Ensemble Studio Theatre's production of what you are now, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk award. She can be seen in the popular Netflix show, “Partner Track,” among many other TV shows, like “Law and Order,” where she plays a judge from time to time and films. Hopefully the strike will be over soon and more TV and film projects will be in the works.
Claire Hsu 許佳倩
Claire (She/Her) is thrilled to be working with some of her favorite people on Salesman之死. Made in Taiwan, Claire is a two-time award-winning trilingual actress, who has performed in French, English and Mandarin. Favorite theater credits: The Hard Problem (regional: Quantum Theater), world premiere of Persuasion (Bedlam), The Doormen (NYC Fringe), and world premiere of LeDécalage (Taiwan). Favorite screen credits include Amazon Original movie “You Were Never Really Here” with Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix, and Universal Pictures’ “Boogie.” She lives happily ever after in Queens with her daughter, husband, and two felines.
Julia Gu 谷曦
Theater: 7 Minutes (Waterwell), Day 364: The Scaled Boy (Yangtze Rep. Theatre), I Know You (Abbey Theatre of Ireland), BAb(oo)shka (St.Ann’s Warehouse), Chinese Opera and Modern Drama (Lenfest Center), Medusa Volution (Happylucky No.1), Salome (Irondale Theater), Salesman之死 (Laguardia Performing Arts Center), Speaking As Then (Columbia Schapiro Theater). Film: Undercurrent (short), Illness (short). Juliaguxi.com
Lydia Jialu Li 黎珈璐
Lydia (they/them) is an actor and performing artist, exported from Beijing Sanlitun. A Chinese, English, Japanese and Emoji user. A chaos of radio calisthenics, yoga, Suzuki, Viewpoints, Mime, Grotowski, Butoh and Kendo. Trained in Beijing, Shanghai, Fukuoka, Moscow, Berlin, NYC, LA, and Ashfield. Previously played at Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Double Edge Theatre, JACK, Los Angeles Performance Practice, REDCAT, Center For New Performance, Park Avenue Armory, Outfest LA, AAIFF, MNFF, SDAFF, Urbanworld, Cairo International Film Festival, etc. Was a resident artist at Mabou Mines, and a fellow artist at todo dar productions. BA in Sociology, Fordham University LC; MFA in Acting, CalArts. www.lilydia.com
Jo Mei 梅园
Jo Mei’s New York theater credits include, Lunch Bunch (PlayCo. & Clubbed Thumb), Anatomy of a Suicide (Atlantic), Babette’s Feast (Theatre at St. Clement’s), World of Extreme Happiness (Manhattan Theatre Club), You For Me For You (Ma-Yi). Regionally she has worked at Berkeley Rep, Pittsburgh City Theatre, Portland Stage, A.R.T., The Goodman, Woolly Mammoth and others. TV credits include “Crashing” (HBO), “Nicki” (Freeform), “Bones” (Fox), and “The Good Wife” (CBS). Jo stars in and co-wrote the award-winning film “A Picture of You”; other film credits include “A Bread Factory, Part One”, “Who We Are Now”, “Adult World”, “The Grief of Others”. Member: The Actors Center. Training: Juilliard.