Experience the Bilingual Play SALESMAN 之死 at Connelly Theater, Inspired by Arthur Miller Directing in China

Yangtze Repertory Theater, in association with Gung Ho Projects, will present the world premiere of Salesman??, a bilingual new play inspired by the true story of Arthur Miller directing Death of a Salesman in China. Written by Jeremy Tiang and directed and developed by Obie Award-winner Michael Leibenluft, Salesman?? runs October 10–28, 2023, at the Connelly Theater (220 E 4th St, Manhattan) with an opening set for Monday, October 16. Tickets go on sale on August 17 and can be purchased at www.yzrep.org/.

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??, which centers on Shen Huihui, a young university professor, who is summoned to the Beijing People’s Art Theatre for a special task: to interpret for Arthur Miller, who will soon arrive to direct his play Death of a Salesman – in Mandarin. Meanwhile, the Chinese ensemble, newly out of the Cultural Revolution, have never met “a salesman.” Will they be able to find common ground? Mostly based on true events, Salesman?? is a multilingual tale of cultural confusion, impossible translation, and unexpected encounters amid the chaos of theater making.

“The American conversation around diversity has been limited,” says playwright Jeremy Tiang, “It tends to stop short at the borders of this country. This multilingual production has the interplay of cultures and communities at its heart. By delving into a history-making instance of true collaboration between China and America, I hope to bring a historical perspective to this very contemporary issue, as well as reminding audiences that this country has always been strongest when it looks out, not inwards.”

“As an American bilingual director, I use theater to spur conversations between cultures, languages, and national identities,” says director Michael Leibenluft. “But there is always a tension in this process as we struggle to balance the individual and the universal. As artists, we are called upon to continue a process of translation that begins on the page: to translate the images, the ideas, the feelings, and experiences of a play. This process of translation contains a delicate balance that we are always navigating to speak to our own experiences and reach out beyond ourselves.”

Chongren Fan, Artistic Director of Yangtze Rep, and Sally Shen, Executive Director of Yangtze Rep said “We first came across this play in a workshop production in 2018 and knew Yangtze wanted to produce it. For us, Salesman?? is a play about courage. Courage to step out of the comfort zone, courage to walk into a new world, and courage to chase dreams. As immigrants ourselves, we experienced that transformation through our personal journeys and are deeply connected with the story. We are excited to finally be able to bring this production to life and share it with a broader audience.”

Salesman?? was originally scheduled to premiere March 29–April 18, 2020, at Target Margin Theater’s THE DOXSEE, but was postponed due to the pandemic.

Additional information including details on casting, creative team, and the performance schedule will be announced at a late date. Please visit www.yzrep.org/ for more information.

About the Artists

Jeremy Tiang

(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??, 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

(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. 

About Yangtze Repertory Theatre

For over 30 years, Yangtze Repertory Theatre (Chongren Fan, Artistic Director; Sally Shen, Executive Director) has been producing and presenting theatrical works in the Greater New York area. Yangtze Rep celebrates artists who are global citizens and provides a platform to showcase their talents. Their past and present productions have served as an entry point for their audience, regardless of their cultural upbringing, to see the world through a contemporary Chinese lens. Since 2017, they have been focusing on supporting artists from the AAPI immigrant community and developing new works that shine a light on stories rarely told. www.yzrep.org

About Gung Ho Projects

Founded in 2015, Gung Ho Projects is a New York-based performance, film, and education platform aimed at creating opportunities for self-expression, empowerment, exchange, and understanding across linguistic and cultural divides. Their Mission, like their work, transcends the boundaries of a single language or cultural perspective: Gung Ho??Projects ??????? leaps ??? into the ? between cultures and languages, creating theater, film, and spaces for learning that ???gozar‏????? ?? ?? ????? to propel us forward, together. www.gunghoprojects.com

About the Connelly Theater

The Connelly Theater is a historic jewel box playhouse that now serves as a home for adventurous independent theater. Productions include: The Good John Proctor and Fall River Fishing (Bedlam), Kate Berlant and Bo Burnham’s Kate, Sasha Velour’s Nightgowns: The Musical, The Crucible (Bedlam), Will Arbery’s Plano (Clubbed Thumb), Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Diaries 2018 (NYTW), The Bengson’s The Lucky Ones (Ars Nova), Sinking Ship's A Hunger Artist (The Tank), Mac Wellman's The Offending Gesture (The Tank), Daniel Kitson's A Show for Christmas, Lyspinka! The Trilogy (TWEED), and many others. The building itself was once an orphanage, built in the 1860s.

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