Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is reimagined for Liverpool by acclaimed British-Ghanaian theatre-maker Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu in a production that places migration, family expectations and the pressures of belonging at the centre of one of the twentieth century’s most enduring plays.
The story follows Willy Loman, a travelling salesman who has spent a lifetime believing in the promise that hard work, popularity and ambition will eventually deliver success. As that promise begins to collapse, Willy retreats into memories while his wife Linda and sons struggle with the emotional consequences of a dream that has shaped the entire family.
For the Everyman production, Fynn-Aiduenu brings the play into conversation with contemporary Liverpool and the immigrant experience. The cast includes Cyril Nri as Willy Loman, alongside Adelaide Banks, Emma Cater, Kiren Kebaili-Dwyer, Noah Olaoye, Joe Speare, Tayo Aluko and Laurence Ubong Williams. The production’s predominantly Black cast allows the familiar American drama to be seen through another cultural lens without losing the universality of Miller’s themes.
Fynn-Aiduenu has spoken about wanting the production to respond to Liverpool as it is today and to communities that have not always seen themselves reflected on the city’s major stages. His approach also draws on African storytelling traditions, opening possibilities for music, memory and intergenerational experience to sit alongside Miller’s original text.
That makes this production particularly relevant during Black History Month. It is not a conventional historical drama, but it raises questions central to Black British and diasporic experience: what it means to arrive in a new country, what parents hope to create for their children, how ideas of success are inherited, and what happens when the promise of social mobility fails to match reality.
The theatre’s education material identifies Black history among the themes that schools can explore through the production. There are also selected accessible performances, including captioned, audio-described and BSL-interpreted dates, as well as a post-show discussion during the run.
Running at the Liverpool Everyman until 10th October, Death of a Salesman offers audiences a chance to encounter a major classic through a distinctly contemporary, culturally expansive Liverpool production – one that asks who is allowed to belong inside the stories we call universal.
More Liverpool Listings MORE
John Akomfrah: Listening All Night To The Rain – Exhibition
John Akomfrah: Listening All Night To The Rain marks the UK presentation of a major new multimedia installation…
DEATH OF A SALESMAN
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is reimagined for Liverpool by acclaimed British-Ghanaian theatre-maker Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu in a…
Manchester Collective X Sidiki Dembélé: Constellations
Manchester Collective joins forces with Ivorian percussionist Sidiki Dembélé for Constellations, a vivid musical journey bringing West African…
Blackfest 2026 Presents: Visual Arts Workshop With Ayobami
Liverpool’s BlackFest 2026 invites audiences to explore colour, abstraction and expressive mark-making in a hands-on visual arts workshop…
Black History Month Lecture with Lemn Sissay
Black History Month Lecture with Lemn Sissay brings one of Britain’s most distinctive poets, authors and broadcasters to…
African Soul Rebels: Les Amazones D’Afrique, Gasper Nali and N’Famady Kouyaté
African Soul Rebels brings three distinctive African musical voices to Liverpool Philharmonic Hall for an evening of rhythm,…
Ibibio Sound Machine + Ziyad Al-samman
British-Nigerian frontwoman Eno Williams brings the electrifying Ibibio Sound Machine to Birkenhead for an October performance at Future…
Blackfest Presents: Plant-based Goodness, Arts, Crafts & Market
BlackFest brings food, creativity, independent makers and music together under the glass of Sefton Park Palm House for…