ALL MY SONS: a family drama of greed and guilt by Arthur Miller

ALL MY SONS: by Arthur Miller

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

At: Swift Creek Mill Theatre, 17401 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Colonial Heights, VA 23834

Performances: January 19 – February 24, 2018

Ticket Prices: Tickets $38 (Theater only); $55 (Buffet & Theater)

Info: ​​ (804) 748-5203 or swiftcreekmill.com

Arthur Miller’s tragic family drama, All My Sons, is based on a true story of events involving the Ohio-based Wright Aeronautical Corporation. During WWII the company knowingly shipped defective engines for use in military aircraft. Miller adapted the story into a multi-layered tragedy of moral conflict that addresses the question, is family everything?

At the heart of the play is Joe Keller (portrayed as a longsuffering cynic by Barry Pruitt). It is gradually revealed that Keller and his former business partner, who is still in prison, were convicted of supplying the defective engine cylinder heads, putting profit above the lives of US servicemen, and possibly contributing to the deaths of at least 20 young men. Keller, much to the dismay of many of his neighbors, was exonerated and released.

The play opens as Keller enjoys a Sunday morning in the backyard of his home, along with his son Chris (a returned veteran, played by George Dippold) and neighbors Jim Bayliss (a physician simmering in a mixture of disillusion and idealism, played by Adrian Grantz) and Frank Lubey (just a regular guy, played by Frank Creasy). The Keller men share the morning paper, with the younger telling his father he reads the book reviews but never reads the books, because, “I like to keep abreast of my ignorance.” The elder Keller’s relentlessly boisterous repartee is obviously covering up something, but the depth of the devastation isn’t revealed until the second act.

Meanwhile, there are many odd and interwoven interactions and conversations. Kate Keller (played with appropriate hysteria by Jacqueline O’Connor) refuses to accept that her son Larry, who has been MIA for more than three years, is dead and won’t be coming back. His room is ready for his return, right down to freshly polished shoes. How do we know this? Well, Larry’s girlfriend, Ann Deever (Maggie McGurn), who grew up next door to the Kellers, is staying in his room. No, she hasn’t been there waiting patiently for three years. She moved to New York after her father, Joe’s business partner, was imprisoned, but has returned for a visit so that Chris can break the news to his father and emotionally unstable mother that he plans to marry his brother’s girl.

Bayliss’ wife, Sue (Louise Mason) turns out to be a pretty shrew who delivers a devastating ultimatum to Ann while Frank’s wife, Lydia (Tara Callahan Carroll) is a bubbly housewife known mostly for laughing too much. A cute neighborhood kid, Bert (played on Saturday by Jude Yaktin, who alternates in the role with Aidan Montefusco) has been deputized by Joe as a sort of neighborhood watch, but the jokes about Joe having a jail in his basement turn out not to be so funny in the end. Matt Hackman makes a brief, game-changing appearance as Ann’s brother George, a New York lawyer by description but not in his frenetic demeanor.

It’s hard to believe that all this action takes place over the course of a single day, as lives and even generations are adversely affected by the words and actions shared. All My Sons is one of those theater experiences that left me sitting in stunned and contemplative silence as many around me rose to their feet applauding.  I understand that it is customary to applaud the work of the actors, but the dark side of human selfishness and greed that had just been revealed seemed to merit something other than applause.

Given the depth and scope of the story, I was somewhat disappointed in the delivery, which was overall too broad and too affected. Something seemed off kilter, not just in the characters’ moral development but in the actors’ execution. Some staging and body placement – especially as things became heated – even distracted me from the dialogue. Director Width, in a rare occurrence, seemed to miss the mark of recreating for me the magic that marked All My Sons as one of his favorite plays in the late 1960s when he designed the set for a community theater production. Maura Lynch Cravey’s costumes are appropriate for 1947, and Tom Width’s house exterior with its back porch showing a glimpse into the home’s hallway and part of a backyard is generically inviting. It’s not until you get to know the Kellers that you realize that first impressions are not always correct.

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County.

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Photo Credits:

Robyn O’Neill

Maggie McGurn, George Dippold, Jacqueline O’Connor

Jacqueline O’Connor and Maggie McGurn

Jacqueline O’Connor and George Dippold

Author: jdldances

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and transplanted to Richmond, VA. A retiree from both the New York City and Richmond City Public School systems, she is currently an Adjunct Instructor for the Department of Dance and Choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University, and holds the degrees of BS and MA in Dance and Dance Education (New York University), MSEd in Early Childhood Education (Brooklyn College, CUNY), and EdD in Educational Leadership (Regent University). Julinda is the Richmond Site Leader for TEN/The Eagles Network and was formerly the East Region Coordinator for the International Dance Commission and has worked in dance ministry all over the US and abroad (Bahamas, Barbados, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Puerto Rico). She is licensed in dance ministry by the Eagles International Training Institute (2012), and was ordained in dance ministry through Calvary Bible Institute and Seminary, Martinez, GA (2009). View all posts by jdldances