Death of a Salesman: Current Events & Pop Culture

An African-American Cast

This production starred the remarkable Charles S. Dutton as Willy Loman, at the head of the African-American cast. This article explores the interesting connotations that the text takes on when it's performed by an all black cast. For example, there are specifics in Death of a Salesman that would not seem to apply to the African-American experience in the middle of the twentieth century. When Biff dreams happily of returning to Texas to become a rancher, it's jarring to ponder the potential fate of a young black man embarking on such an endeavor in 1949.