The Man Who Had All the Luck (King's Head)

Arthur Miller's first Broadway play follows a man through the three luckiest years of his life, exploring the perplexing interactions of fate, chance and randomness with human free will. Miller himself was unlucky that the 1944 audience wasn't in the mood for a play about a man cursed by good luck and it ran for only four performances. But later revivals brought out the developing power of Miller as a playwright and it's a fine choice to mark his centenary.

Garage mechanic David Beeves succeeds in marrying his childhood sweetheart, Hester, despite the opposition of her father, whose bad luck is his good fortune. More lucky breaks follow thanks to the advent of fellow mechanic, émigré Austrian Gus, and even when David diversifies into mink ranching, he seems to succeed where others fail. Not everyone in his family shares his luck however, their resentment leads to his guilt and he almost wishes catastrophe on himself so he can get it over and done with.

Director Paul Lichtenstern and designer Claire Winfield, with lighting designer Tom Mowat, make a real virtue out of the budgetary necessity for a largely empty space in which the cast conjure a barn-like mechanic's garage and a newly-refurbished farmhouse room.

Jamie Chandler makes Beeves likeable travelling from boyishness to breakdown – and, judiciously, just mildly irritating! He's well-matched by Chloe Walshe's charming but determined Hester. There's good support from Keith Hill's father, painfully trying to justify his training methods for his younger son, would-be major league baseball pitcher Amos (a heartbreakingly plucky Michael Kinsey), and Peter Dineen (playing several parts) is excellent as the Detroit talent scout come to pronounce on Amos' talent. There are also powerful performances from Alex Warner as Gus and Mark Turnbull as childless chain store owner JB, seeking a surrogate son in David.

It's not just the knowledge of Miller's later work that makes you feel in safe hands through the unexpected plot twists. There's a real sense that Miller has something important to say and knows how to say it. World War One veteran Shory (Kevin Murphy) sums up the play succinctly: "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."

And it's not just a matter of enjoying the play as a precursor of later work – this production stands up on its own merit, despite Lichtenstern feeling the need to underline the drama with some unnecessary music.

The Man Who Had All the Luck runs at The King's Head until 27 September 2015