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New cast members announced to star alongside Wendell Pierce & Sharon D Clarke in West End transfer of Miller’s DEATH OF A SALESMAN

Death of a Salesman

Elliott & Harper Productions and Cindy Tolan today announced new cast members joining Wendell Pierce and Sharon D Clarke in the West End transfer of the highly acclaimed, sold-out Young Vic production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman at the Piccadilly Theatre from 24 October 2019.

Two of Britain’s hottest young actors join the company to play Willy Loman’s sons.  Sope Dirisu will play Biff Loman and Natey Jones will play Happy Loman.  Sope’s theatre credits include the title role in Coriolanus for the RSC, Ogun in The Brothers Size for the Young Vic and Mohammed Ali in One Night in Miami for the Donmar Warehouse.  His screen credits include Black Mirror for Netflix and the upcoming film Gangs of London.  Amongst Natey’s recent theatre credits are Small Island for the National Theatre,Doctor FaustusDon Quixote and The Alchemist for the RSC and Tina: Tina Turner, The Musical in the West End.

Victoria Hamilton-Barritt joins the company to play The Woman and Jenny and Carole Stennett joins to play Miss Forsythe.

Reprising their roles performed at the Young Vic alongside Wendell and Sharon are:  Ian Bonar as Bernard, Trevor Cooper as Charley, Joseph Mydell as Ben Loman, Matthew Seadon-Young as Howard Wagner and Stanley, Nenda Neurer as Letta andFemi Tomowo as Willy Loman’s father and musician.  Emmanuel Ogunjinmi will understudy Biff and Happy with further ensemble members to be announced shortly.

Following her recent award-winning successes on Company and Angels in America, Marianne Elliott co-directs Death of a Salesman with Miranda Cromwell, who worked as Associate Director on both
shows. Together, they bring a unique vision to one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century, seen through the eyes of an African-American family.

Wendell Pierce, who is best known for his roles in The WireSuits and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan will reprise his revelatory performance as Willy Loman with the Olivier award-winning Sharon D. Clarke, who is currently wowing audiences at London’s Kiln Theatre in Blues in the Night, reprising her heart-rending performance as Linda Loman.

Joining directors Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell on the creative team are designer Anna Fleischle, lighting designerAideen Malone, sound designer Carolyn Downing, composer and musical director by Femi Temowo; with fight direction by Yarit Dor and casting by Charlotte Sutton CDG.

Arthur Miller – playwright –  was born in New York City and studied at the University of Michigan.  His plays include All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, After the Fall, Incident at Vichy, The American Clock, Broken Glass, Mr Peters’ Connections and Rescurrection Blues.  He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1949.  Other works include the novelFocus, the screenplay Misfits, the memoire Timebends and texts for the books In Russia, In the Country and Chinese Encounters, in collaboration with his wife, photographer Inge Morath.  Recently published collections include Collected Plays, Collected Essays andPresence: Collected Stories.

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Death of a Salesman – God I love this show

Wendell Pierce

Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell have treated us to a mesmerising evening that is overflowing with suspended furniture, sliding door frames, live music, Arinzé Kene in a vest and a inspired new version of Death of a Salesman, at the Young Vic. 

Inspired as in the Loman family are black, which casts their drudgery in pre-civil rights America in a whole different light. This Salesman stars Sharon D Clarke and Wendell Pierce as Linda and Willy Loman. 

Elliott and Cromwell co-direct with attention grabbing pace. And 70 years on, Arthur Miller’s play has chilling resonance. And it’s all here: the pathos, time bending and drama of intense despair. This revival illuminates the classic as the past haunts the present time and place majestically. 

Memory and reality are never overplayed.

Wendell Pierce

Wendell Pierce

It may demand a lot from audiences and take risks, but that’s what all great theatre should do. And if some don’t come off, it’s one of the few classic tragic plays that can usually fall back on its script or the astonishing performances of its cast.

Particular plaudits with Elliott & Harper’s impressive production, of course, go to Sharon D. Clarke who’s turned loyal wife Linda Loman into a thing of very slow-burning, bluesy pain. 

Wendell Pierce leads the collapse of the Loman family as the deluded Salesman: out of time. His Willy is lofty, pathetic and explosive. 

 Sharon D Clarke

Sharon D Clarke

The design by Anna Fleischle is a beautifully fragmented and disjointed shell of a home: The Young Vic shimmers in rich primary colours through short sharp bursts of light through a prism or wooden frames. Hats off to the glorious sound by Carolyn Downing and clever music by Temowo. 

Halfway through Act 1, though, I felt this was Marianne Elliott on both autopilot and at the peak of her powers: standing, at times, in the shadow of huge successes on both revivals of musical Company and Angels in America.

But Act 2 left me reeling and emotionally shattered. Make of that what you will. 

The final scene is 10/10. 

Personally, I thought the whole thing was so brilliantly executed that it should become a permanent fixture on The Cut. 

A perfect revival. 

Death of a Salesman runs at the Young Vic from May 9-June 29, youngvic.org

Sold out DEATH OF A SALESMAN run extended, £10 ‘Rush’ Tickets to be released

Wendell Pierce

Due to public demand, the Young Vic today announces that the currently sold-out production of Death of a Salesman will extend for an additional two weeks of performances until Saturday 13 July. These additional performances go on sale at 10.30am today, Wednesday 1 May, with tickets priced £10 – £40.

As part of its commitment to accessible tickets, the Young Vic also announces that every Thursday at midday a limited number of £10 ‘Rush’ Tickets will be released online for the following week’s performances. The scheme will begin from Thursday 2 May and will be limited to two tickets per customers, available online.

Following her recent award-winning successes on Company and Angels in AmericaMarianne Elliott co-directs Death of a Salesmanwith Miranda Cromwell, who worked as Associate Director on both shows. Together, they bring a unique vision to one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century, seen through the eyes of an African-American family.

Wendell Pierce makes his UK stage debut as Willy Loman, with Sharon D. Clarke as Linda Loman, Arinzé Kene as Biff Loman and Martins Imhangbe as Happy Loman. The full cast also includes Ian Bonar as Bernard, Trevor Cooper as Charley, Joseph Mydellas Ben Loman, Nenda Neurer as Letta, Jennifer Saayeng as Miss Forsythe, Matthew Seadon-Young as Howard Wagner and Stanley, Maggie Service as The Woman and Jenny and Femi Temowo as Willy Loman’s Father and Musician.

Death of a Salesman is directed by Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell, with design by Anna Fleischle, lighting design byAideen Malone, sound design by Carolyn Downing, composition and musical direction by Femi Temowo, fight direction and additional movement support by Yarit Dor and casting by Charlotte Sutton CDG.