Helmed by former Adelaide Festival artistic director Neil Armfield, the touring production of Arthur Miller’s 1949 classic Death of a Salesman debuted in Melbourne in 2023, followed by seasons in Sydney and Perth. It will arrive at the Festival Theatre in September, shortly after wrapping its Brisbane season due to start this month.

The play stars the 67-year-old as Willy Loman, the titular salesman and a character LaPaglia has described as “one of the greatest roles ever written”. Loman has previously been portrayed on stage and screen by actors including Dustin Hoffman, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Nathan Lane.

It will be the first time the Without a Trace, Lantana and Balibo star – whose film and television career has seen him win Golden Globe and Emmy Awards – has treaded the boards in his hometown.

It isn’t LaPaglia’s first brush with the stage, or the American theatre legend, having won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1998 for a Broadway production of A View from the Bridge.

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“Arthur Miller was the presiding genius of American theatre in the 20th Century and Death of a Salesman is arguably his finest achievement,” LaPaglia says of the show. “I was lucky enough to meet and work with Arthur when I played Eddie Carbone in A View From the Bridge on Broadway in 1997, and I feel a deep affinity for his work.”

LaPaglia says the story of Loman’s “tragic unravelling” remains timeless.

“It also speaks profoundly to the American Dream and, in many ways, foreshadows the dissolution of that dream in the 21st Century. Even after 77 years, this play, like all great classics, is as powerful and relevant as ever.”

This tour marks the first mainstage production of an Arthur Miller play to hit Adelaide since a 2019 staging of A View from the Bridge, presented by State Theatre Company South Australia under then-artistic director Geordie Brookman. LaPaglia’s Death of a Salesman is co-produced by Brookman’s older brother Torben Brookman, with the Adelaide-based production company GWB Entertainment presenting the tour alongside Andrew Henry Presents.

Producers Torben and Richelle Brookman say the show will have completed over 130 performances, to over 125,000 audience members, by the time it reaches Adelaide.

“It is a huge source of pride to finally bring the production to our and Anthony LaPaglia’s hometown for what is likely to be its final season,” they said in a statement.

LaPaglia will be joined onstage by Alison Whyte, Josh Helman and Ben O’Toole when Death of a Salesman opens on September 26, running until October 4. Ticket sales open to the public August 6.