Following a critically acclaimed run in London, this vibrant and timely production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman comes to Broadway for 17 weeks only. Olivier Award nominee Wendell Pierce and Olivier Award winner and 2022 Tony nominee Sharon D Clarke reprise their roles as Willy and Linda Loman in a revival told – for the first time on Broadway – from the perspective of an African American family.
A new cast of supporting actors joins the production in New York, featuring Khris Davis and Tony winner André De Shields. Directed by Miranda Cromwell – who won an Olivier Award alongside co-director Marianne Elliott for the West End and Young Vic productions – this powerful interpretation of Miller's classic drama illuminates the dark underbelly of the American Dream and its elusive promise of equality and opportunity for all. Don’t miss the brilliantly reimagined revival The New York Times called "vital and electrifying."
Whether it's the right casting, aside from the peerless Clarke in stand-by-your-man mode, is another matter entirely. Pierce overplays Willy's almost-constant anger - at life, at Linda, at his 'disappointing' sons, Biff (Khris Davis) and Happy (an almost too-charismatic McKenley Belcher III) - making him less-than-sympathetic and, at times, almost insufferable. There's some subtext in his physical portrayal that suggests this Willy may be suffering from a brain tumor or dementia, which would explain a lot of his behavior. And one can certainly argue that a Black man in 1949 Brooklyn has a lot to be angry about. But all in all, Pierce's Willy seems to have far too much fighting spirit left for his ultimate decision to make sense.
But as this production from the Young Vic Theatre in London reminds us, Arthur Miller's 1949 drama packs a mighty punch. Pierce portrays Willy as a hero for both his time and ours - a complex human being with grave character flaws, but 'a good man' for all that. Under the careful direction of Miranda Cromwell, Pierce sensitively scrutinizes this deluded man's foolish worship of the American Dream, which he narrowly interprets as material success.
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