THE impromptu Arthur Miller season of six of his plays performed in Britain since the start of the year culminates in this production, with an all-star cast led by Wendell Pierce of The Wire and Suits fame and directed by the multiaward-winning duo of Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell.

But for all that star power this Death of a Salesman falls a little short of its sales pitch.

Anna Fleischle’s brutalist concrete set is where the cracks begin to surface. Trapping the action in such austere confines makes it difficult to imagine the mid-1940s US East Coast where Willy Loman’s life unravels and with the costumes and props so clearly located in the period it’s an anomalous contrast difficult to ignore.

Yet the vision of Elliott and Cromwell’s production is, in one sense, revelatory. Casting the Lomans as an African-American family points up the racial tensions of the period and it’s a thought-provoking move which in now way over-rides Miller’s cut-throat critique of capitalism’s inherent injustice.

Unfortunately, the pace of some scenes is grindingly slow and the production suffers as a result. When it ratchets up a few gears, as in a fizzing early exchange between brothers Biff (Arinze Kene) and Happy (Martins Imhangbe), the dramatic engine really begins to purr. But such moments are too fleeting before the production arrives at what’s undoubtedly a transfixing conclusion.

As Loman, Pierce holds us captive throughout but his lack of intensity makes it hard to sense that you are watching a man race to rock bottom.

The same cannot be said for the indomitable Sharon D Clarke, who’s at the heart of the shattering conclusion. After playing Loman’s downtrodden wife for the best part of three hours she’s finally allowed to break loose and steal the show. It’s a shame that Miller’s writing restricts her to such a limited role.

Firmly established in the theatrical canon — it was first performed seven decades ago — this revival, despite its modern flourishes, gives the impression of a play beginning to show its age.

Runs until July 13, box office: youngvic.org.