Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Death of a Salesman comes to Exeter in May as part of a major touring revival by Northampton’s Royal & Derngate. Directed by Abigail Graham, the production can be seen at Exeter Northcott Theatre from Tue 30 May – Sat 3 June.
Widely considered to be one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century, Death of a Salesman is about the cost of not being able to let go of the American Dream.
Willy Loman is not as young as he once was, and boy is he feeling it. After a lifetime on the road, this once successful travelling salesman is unable to keep up in a changing workplace; he’s on the brink of unemployment, and he and his wife have got bills to pay. When his drop out son Biff moves home again, Willy decides to give success one last shot. Can he prove to everyone he’s got what it takes?
The iconic role of Willy Loman will be played by Nicholas Woodeson, an Olivier Award-nominated actor, who worked for many years with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Recent stage credits include Fatherland at the Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester and The Audience in London’s West End. Playing his wife Linda Loman is Tricia Kelly whose recent credits include The Lower Depths at Arcola Theatre. The cast also includes Geff Francis, perhaps best known for TV roles in Ashes to Ashes and Desmonds. The cast is completed by Sujaya Dasgupta, Ben Deery, Amelia-Rose Morgan, Mitchell Mullen, George Taylor, Thom Tuck, Connie Walker and Michael Walters.
Death of a Salesman is directed by acclaimed emerging director Abigail Graham whose production of Molly Sweeney played recently at The Print Room and Lyric Belfast. Design is by Georgia Lowe, whose recent credits include The Night Watch at the Royal Exchange and the recent tour of The Twits. The lighting designer is Matt Haskins, whose previous work includes Turn of the Screw for Opera North and the national tour of Steel Magnolias, and composition and sound design is by Giles Thomas, whose credits include Wish List and I See You at the Royal Court.
Part of Royal & Derngate’s Made in Northampton 2017 season, Death of a Salesman is touring to Cambridge, Bath, Malvern, Exeter, Canterbury, Portsmouth, Edinburgh, Truro, Guildford and Oxford. In 2015 Royal & Derngate was awarded the UK Theatre Management Award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre and in 2016 the venue was jointly awarded the UK Theatre Award for Best Touring Production for The Herbal Bed.
ENDS
For further information and to request interviews, review tickets and images, please contact Jenny Hogg on 01392 724 221 or email her
Press night: Tues 30 May at 7.30pm
Notes to editors:
Tickets: www.exeternorthcott.co.uk
Creative team:
Director Abigail Graham
Designer Georgia Lowe
Lighting Designer Matt Haskins
Composer and Sound Designer Giles Thomas
Movement Director Jennifer Jackson
Fight Director Brett Yount
Dialect Coach Martin McKellan
Assistant Director Fay Lomas
Casting Director Sophie Parrott CDG
Cast:
Sujaya Dasgupta Jenny/Miss Forsythe
Ben Deery Happy Loman
Geff Francis Charley
Tricia Kelly Linda Loman
Amelia-Rose Morgan Letta
Michael Mullen Ben Loman
George Taylor Biff Loman
Thom Tuck Howard/Stanley
Connie Walker Miss Francis
Michael Walters Bernard
Nicholas Woodeson Willy Loman
For full details of the Death of a Salesman tour, go to: www.royalandderngate.co.uk
Royal & Derngate, Northampton, is the main venue for arts and entertainment in Northamptonshire. Last year more than 314,000 people saw shows and films at Royal & Derngate, and another 180,000 saw its co-produced work across the country. Recognised as one of the country’s leading regional theatres, Royal & Derngate won the Management Award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre in the 2015 UK Theatre Awards, and was nominated again in The Stage Awards 2016 for Regional Theatre of the Year (which it won in 2011). Its acclaimed Made in Northampton work has included Arthur Miller’s The Hook (world premiere adapted for the stage by Ron Hutchinson), Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (world premiere adaptation by Dawn King) and Festival Of Chaos (Cultural Olympiad 2012). The Herbal Bed (a co-production with English Touring Theatre and Rose Theatre Kingston) won the 2016 UK Theatre Award for Best Touring Production. The theatre also runs a wide-ranging Get Involved participatory programme which reached over 21,500 people last year, through projects in schools, within the community and at the theatre.
