Rufus Norris’s First Directing Job Since the National Theatre Will Open In Turkey Today

Rufus Norris will return to directing this evening as his production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman premieres at Zorlu PAC in Istanbul. It is his first production since stepping down as Artistic Director of the National Theatre and features an all-star Turkish cast and award-winning creative team.

Set design is by Olivier and Tony Award-winning designer Es Devlin, whose work spans the National Theatre and West End productions as well as stage shows for world-famous artists such as Beyoncé, U2, Lady Gaga and The Weeknd. Choreography and movement are from Javier De Frutos, an Olivier Award-winning choreographer whose credits include the West End and National Theatre. Renowned composer Oğuz Kaplangı, whose musical works have represented Türkiye internationally, contributes the original music for the production, while sound is from Tony Award-winning sound designer Adam Cork. Lighting design is created by Oliver Fenwick, who has worked with institutions such as the National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the English National Opera and numerous West End productions. The costumes are designed by Tony and Olivier Award-winning designer Katrina Lindsay, currently known for her work on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London.

The cast features some of the biggest names in Turkish acting. Renowned actor Halit Ergenç - whose TV series have been broadcast in 190 countries and broken viewership records both at home and internationally -makes a triumphant return to the stage after a twenty-five-year hiatus in the role of Willy Loman. He is joined by award-winning actress Zerrin Tekindor as Linda Loman, recently seen at Zorlu PAC in Dust which has been performed 350 times over five seasons and staged across Europe and other international locations including Dubai. Completing the family are Fatih Artman and Kerem Arslanoğlu as the couple's sons, Biff and Happy.

Death of a Salesman premiered on Broadway in 1949 winning that year's Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as the Tony Award for Best Play. After a failed sales trip, Willy Loman returns to Brooklyn, confronting the unravelling realities of his career, his family and the elusive promise of the American Dream. Since its premiere nearly 80 years ago, it has been revived six times on Broadway and performed all over the world, sold 11 million copies of the script and is considered one of the most important and successful plays of the 20th century.

Rufus Norris said, "This has been one of the most challenging and rewarding processes I've experienced, and I feel incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity. My connection to Turkey - and especially to its people - has deepened throughout this journey. What makes Death of a Salesman so powerful is its ability to reveal its characters in all their complexity, exploring memory and imagination at its core. With this production, we've aimed to expand the world of the play while staying true to its emotional heart, particularly in expressing the fragmentation of Willy Loman's mind on stage. As always, my hope is that audiences fully lose themselves in the experience and leave with a lasting emotional response."

Zorlu Performing Arts Center (Zorlu PAC) has been bringing inspiring artistic experiences to audiences for 13 years. Addressing its audience with the motto "Let Your World Change" in its 13th season, Zorlu PAC continues to be a meeting point for culture, arts, and entertainment, offering new surprises in the upcoming season as well. Having hosted nearly 8 million art lovers to date, Zorlu PAC plays a leading role in shaping Turkey's cultural and artistic landscape. From world-renowned musicals to international musicians, from large-scale theatre productions to its own original productions, Zorlu PSM brings together a diverse range of high-quality performances. With its world-class, multi-purpose venue design, it carries the vision of being a global stage. With its innovative, dynamic, up-to-date, reliable, entertaining, diverse, inclusive, ambitious, and unconventional structure, Zorlu PAC goes beyond being a performing arts centre and contributes to the development of the cultural and arts sector. With seven different venues under its roof, it continues to offer a unique cultural and artistic experience.

Filiz Ova Zorlu PAC General Manager said "Following a 13-season vision and a preparation process, Death of a Salesman comes to life on the Zorlu PSM stage with our internationally experienced creative team and outstanding cast. I would like to thank everyone who contributed both on and off stage throughout this process. I hope that the story of Willy Loman-woven with hope, disappointment, and the human struggle for existence-will be reborn in every performance. As Zorlu PSM, we wish for this play to remain on our stage for years as an important part of our mission to create a platform where original, classical, and powerful stories continue to live."

Rufus Norris served as Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the National Theatre of Great Britain from 2015 to 2025. Prior to this role, he worked as an Associate Director at both the National Theatre and the Young Vic in London, and has directed theatre and film productions in London, New York, across the UK, and internationally. During his tenure at the National Theatre, Norris programmed over 170 productions on the South Bank stages, directing 13 of them himself. Throughout this period, he championed new writing, led efforts to increase representation both on and off stage, worked towards making theatre more sustainable, and strengthened the National Theatre's presence across the UK and internationally. Many productions transferred to the West End, Broadway, and other international stages, while the theatre's global digital reach expanded significantly. Over the course of his career, he has received numerous theatre and film awards, including an Olivier Special Award, two Evening Standard Awards, multiple Tony Awards as a producer, Best Film at the British Independent Film Awards, and two honorary doctorates. In 2025, he was awarded a knighthood in the King's Birthday Honours for his services to theatre. Death of a Salesman marks his first production following his departure from the National Theatre.

British contemporary artist Es Devlin is an interdisciplinary artist who works across stage design, installation, and architectural-scale projects. Her work has been presented in the exhibition An Atlas of Es Devlin at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in 2023 and a major solo exhibition of her large-scale installations is currently on view at Casa Bradesco in São Paulo. Her practice is also comprehensively documented through a forthcoming exhibition at the Design Museum in London in September 2026, as well as a monograph published by Thames & Hudson. Devlin is the recipient of an Emmy Award and an Ivor Novello Award, as well as the London Design Medal, three Olivier Awards, and a Tony Award. She has been awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Bristol, the University of Kent, and the University of the Arts London, and has also been honoured with a CBE. A fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, Devlin serves as a visiting professor of contemporary theatre at the University of Oxford. In theatre, she has designed sets for productions including Dear England, The Lehman Trilogy, and Coriolanus (National Theatre), The Nether(Royal Court), and Hamlet (RSC). Her installation works include Library of Us (Miami), Congregation (St Mary le Strand / The Courtauld), Come Home Again (Tate Modern), Library of Light(Milan), I Saw the World End (Imperial War Museum), Singing Tree (V&A), and Poem Portraits (Serpentine). Among her architectural-scale works, Poem Pavilion (UK Pavilion - World Expo 2021) stands out. In the music world, she has created kinetic stage sculptures for Beyoncé's Formation and Renaissance tours, as well as U2's U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere. She has also conceived the Super Bowl halftime shows of Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, and The Weeknd, as well as the Closing ceremony of the London Olympic Games and the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Rio.