Reading Arthur Miller's memoir about his 1983 production of Death of a Salesman makes me realize how much American culture has changed since then and perhaps even how diverse Montgomery County is. Indeed, Miller observes, "[the actors] are simply the-Lomans-as- Chinese-looking people. This places them in some country of the mind, not in any earthly geography" (172). Could one say this about the New York and Boston of *our* today, to use Miller's stage directions?
The picture above is of Flushing, a neighborhood in NYC's borough of Queens.
The picture above shows actor B.D. Wong who plays a detective on Law and Order: SVU. As you may know, this show is set in NYC.However, back in 1983, the Beijing production of Death of a Salesman was groundbreaking. Although it had been just over ten years since Nixon's visit, China was emerging from a period of isolation and recovering from its Cultural Revolution. (Miller makes many observations about the impact of this historical period on the Chinese, especially on the actors he works with and the intellectuals he meets.) The production of Death of a Salesman was therefore part of China's emergence and the development of its theater. (Miller also notes that his play's approach to time and space was novel to the Chinese. Most Chinese plays emphasized "realism" and a moral message over interiority and memory. Ironically, Western scholars such as Robert Brustein criticized Miller for his concern with politics and society.)
For more information about China's history and the Cultural Revolution, see these sites:
Miller also discusses his Chinese actors' approach to theater. It is more physical than Westerners' reliance on psychology and motivation. In fact, Miller is mystified and annoyed by his actors' desire to wear wigs and therefore appear more "Western." Finally, one actor reveals to him that Chinese actors enjoy dressing up and feeling that, by changing their appearance, they may "change their fate." Nevertheless, Miller is concerned about the effect that the actors' attempts to look "Western" may have on his play's realism. It is also amusing to read Miller's complaints about the 1940's long skirts.
At this point, you may wonder whether the play was performed in English or Chinese and whether Miller knew Chinese. The play was performed in Chinese. The actor playing Willy, Ying Ruocheng, also translated it, and Miller was quite pleased with this translation. Miller did not know Chinese. His wife, the photographer Inge Morath, did, having studied the language for eight years. Miller also relied on several other translators, especially Ying Ruocheng. Moreover, this was not Miller's first trip to China, and he and his wife had hosted many visitors from that country (including Ying Ruocheng).
Here is a picture of the cast of Death of a Salesman with the play's author.
Below is a picture of Ying Ruocheng in another role. I will try to find out which one it is. 
He, too, has written an autobiography, so I guess I have something else for my summer reading!!As I close, I wonder what Arthur Miller would have made about the Oberlin production of Death of a Salesman starring Avery Brooks.
This week we returned to the novel and moved on to Chinese literature. (Remember the definition of the novel -- an fictional prose narrative of at least 50,000 words which emphasizes character over plot, focuses on a protagonist with whom we are supposed to sympathize, and has a realistic-seeming setting. We also talked about mimesis, the extent to which art imitates life.) Monday we began discussing one of the Four Classic Chinese Novels: The Story of the Stone (written during the 1740s or 1750s and published in 1791). Its authors are Cao Xueqin (volumes 1 to 3) and Gao E (volumes 4 to 5). Yes, the English translation of The Story of the Stone is five volumes long. However, the excerpts that we read are from the first volume.
Apologies for not posting sooner, but here is the final installment of The Story of the Stone. 
Since I'm not able to find a large enough picture of the cover to Volume 3, I will post this picture of a couple in the Grand View Garden from www.beijingguide2008.com. It looks like this couple may be actors dressed as Bai-yu and Lin-yu. 
In this volume of The Story of the Stone, the cousins are a little more grown up (14 or 15), and they are mad for poetry. The Crab Flower Club is the name of their club, and many of "their" poems are included in this volume. Our anthology includes only a few scenes from this section of The Story of the Stone, but I think that it is still well worth reading not only to see what happens to Bao-yu and his family but also to understand a little more about Chinese literature and literary studies as well as their attitudes towards gender.
In fact, here, the clouds begin to gather over Bao-yu and his family. Early on, Jia Zheng, Bao-yu's father, attacks his son, giving him an extremely severe beating because of what he perceives as his dissoluteness. Keep in mind that Bao-yu hates to study and that he shows especially contempt for what is considered masculine knowledge. His father, on the other hand, is a Confucian scholar and civil servant. Almost at the beginning of the book, Golden, a servant to Bao-yu's mother, is dismissed for flirting with the young man. Later she kills herself. When Jia Zheng inquires into this young woman's suicide, Jia Huan (his other son by a concubine) informs him that Golden killed herself after Bao-yu had raped her. (Right now I'm reading Vol. 3, and this lie has not yet been exposed although it is clear to the family that Jia Huan and his mother are troublemakers.) Jia Zheng leaves the family compound shortly thereafter when the Emperor promotes him to high office. However, Bao-yu's days in the garden may be limited. His maid and now "chamber wife," Aroma, advises Bao-yu's mother to be stricter with him, move him into lodgings outside of the garden, and encourage him to be more like his father. In other words, it is time for Bao-yu to learn to be a man. (Below is a picture of Confucian scholars from www.cultural-china.com.) 
