Yangtze Repertory Theatre Adds Performances Of SALESMAN之死 To Sold-Out Run At Connelly Theater

Due to popular demand and critical acclaim, Yangtze Repertory Theatre, in association with Gung Ho Projects, has announce two additional performances of Salesman之死 as part of its sold-out run at the Connelly Theater (220 E 4th St, Manhattan).

Written by Jeremy Tiang and directed and developed by Obie Award-winner Michael Leibenluft, Salesman之死 is a new bilingual play inspired by the true story of Arthur Miller directing Death of a Salesman in China. The limited engagement, which opened on October 16, must close on October 28, 2023. Tickets to the additional performances, October 27 at 2pm and October 28 at 7pm, are currently on sale and can be purchased at www.yzrep.org.

 

“Fascinating… hilarious,” writes Zachary Stewart in Theatermania, adding, “Salesman之死 is a love letter to all the unsung heroes who toil far below the title to make a show a success.” David Barbour in Lighting & Sound declares, “In Salesman之死, Tiang makes a hard-to-dismiss case that art may be the most efficacious instrument of empathy. It's a message that, more than ever, we need to hear.” “A remarkable and hilarious bilingual production,” proclaims Holli Harms in Front Row Center, adding, “The all-female cast is subtle perfection.” “Tiang's play has a richness to its characterizations, details and design,” observes Nicole Serratore in Exeunt. “Funny and poignant,” notes Mark Rifkin in This Week in New York, adding, “Salesman之死 is an enriching experience, no matter one's cultural heritage.”

 

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.

 

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?
 

“The American conversation around diversity is sometimes limited,” says playwright Jeremy Tiang, “It often stops 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之死 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 from China ourselves, we experienced that transformation through our personal journeys and are deeply connected with the story. Forty years later, this story remains relevant and has immediacy more than ever. We are excited to finally be able to bring this production to life and share it with a broader audience.”

 

The all Asian, all female ensemble for Salesman之死 features Sandia Ang, Drama Desk nominee Sonnie Brown, Julia Gu, Claire Hsu, Lydia Jialu Li, and Jo Mei. Together, the six performers will blur many boundaries as Salesman之死 asks them to play across age, ethnicity, nationality, and language to delivery performances never seen on stage before.

 

The creative team for Salesman之死 includes Chika Shimizu (scenic designer), Karen Boyer (costume designer), Daisy Long (lighting designer), Kai-Luen Liang and Da Xu (co-sound designers), Cinthia Chen (projection designer), Kevin Jinghong Zhu (production stage manager), Tianding He (associate director), Annie Jin Wang (dramaturg), Cynthia Yiru Hu (assistant stage manager), and Yining Cao (producing associate).

 

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.

Twenty performances of Salesman之死 will now take place through October 28, 2023, at the Connelly Theater, located at 220 E 4th St in Manhattan. The running time is 100 minutes. Tickets for the added performances are $69 general admission and $109 premium reserved and can be purchased at www.yzrep.org. Standard ticketing fees apply.

A limited number of $20 cash only student tickets (valid ID required) are available for the added two performances one hour in advance of the curtain time.

$40 cash only tickets are available in person, pending availability, to all performances and will be processed on a first-come-first-serve basis. Please note, such tickets are fee inclusive.

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

Please visit www.yzrep.org/salesman for more information.

Jeremy Tiang 程异 (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 (he/him) is a multilingual, 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 the Cast

Sandia Ang 翁春晓, 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 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 (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 (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's 梅园 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.

For over 30 years, Yangtze Repertory Theatre (Chongren Fan范崇人, Artistic Director; Sally Shen 申羽, 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

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工合Projects שפּרינג leaps 跨文化 into the 間 between cultures and languages, creating theater, film, and spaces for learning that 変えるgozar‏تنوير 변화 遨遊 שפּיל to propel us forward, together. www.gunghoprojects.com

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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