The Royal Shakespeare Company’s critically acclaimed production of Death Of A Salesman, starring Olivier Award winners Antony Sher and Harriet Walter, will transfer to London’s Noël Coward Theatre in May to coincide with the centenary of Arthur Miller’s birth.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning play, which is directed by the RSC’s Artistic Director Gregory Doran, will begin its 10-week run at the West End venue on 9 May (press night 13 May), playing until 18 July.
Described by Doran as “The greatest American play of the 20th century”, Death Of A Salesman will see Sher, last seen on the London stage in the RSC’s Henry IV Parts I and II at the Barbican Theatre, take on the role of Willy Loman alongside Walter (Boa, Trafalgar Studios) as his wife Linda.
Set in the land of the free, where each man is in charge of his own destiny, the Miller classic charts the story of Willy as he prepares to retire and watch his two athletic handsome sons continue the legacy he has built through a life of hard honest work.
But with old age beginning to take hold, Willy’s dream seems further away than ever, as decades of graft have somehow failed to translate into wealth and his eldest son refuses to follow the path his father has chosen for him.
The entire cast currently appearing in the production in Stratford-upon-Avon will transfer with the production. They include Sher’s Henry IV co-stars Alex Hassell and Sam Marks as Willy’s sons Biff and Happy.
The show’s forthcoming West End run follows two other recent RSC transfers. The John Heffernan-led Oppenheimer is currently playing at the Vaudeville Theatre, while A Mad World My Masters will begin a limited run at the Barbican Theatre on 29 April.
Death Of A Salesman will open at the Noël Coward Theatre following the current run of Olivier Award nominated romantic comedy Shakespeare In Love, which closes on 18 April.