The Man Who Had All the Luck was Arthur Miller’s first play to be produced. Searching philosophical and vehemently political, in intimates so much that will take centre-stage in his better-known work for decades to come.

A man is a jellyfish. The tide goes in and the tide goes out. About what happens to him, a man has very little to say. Everything David Beeves touches turns to gold. He has a beautiful home and a loving wife, loyal friends and a thriving business. But as those around him trip and fall, David struggles to understand his fate. What if his Midas touch, like the flip of a coin or the pull of the tide, is nothing more than good luck? The Man Who Had All the Luck was Arthur Miller’s first play to be produced, premiering in New York in November 1944. Searching philosophical and vehemently political, in intimates so much that will take centre-stage in his better-known work for decades to come. This edition was published to coincide with the revival at the King's Head Theatre, London, in September 2015 in Miller's centenary year.

"You can feel Miller exploring the theatrical terrain he was to make uniquely his own" - Guardian

"It is illuminating as a taster of themes that would return in Miller's work - father-son and brother-brother relationships, disappointment, the dubiousness of the American Dream, the hollow happiness of wealth - but here it also comes out as a piece about spiritual unease, about the deep disquiet of a man who cannot discern purpose or justice in life" - Financial Times

"Arthur Miller was 24 when he wrote this rich, passionate and compassionate play ... it should rank with Miller's greatest." - Sunday Times

"Listen to the dialogue: no other American dramatist has this feel for the ordinary talk of ordinary people, or the knowledge of what they do. This is more than a writer's craft, it is a psychological and moral openness to humanity, an act not of imitating, but of sharing." - Sunday Times

"It's the Arthur Miller play that slipped through the net . . . As well as featuring his trademark dialogue - compelling, funny, full of ideas - it is also a grand experiment in which the playwright reverses the usual journey of a tragic hero." - Guardian