Synopsis Three years since the report of his disappearance in action, the Kellers are still waiting, hoping against hope for news of their son's return. Three years of waiting, and their younger son struggles to break the news to his mother and father that he is in love with the girl his brother left behind. Three lives are on hold, until they can finally accept that Laurie may never return. Events come to a head one evening, when Annie returns to her home town and forces the Keller family to confront their hidden past, their own culpability and the awful part they may have played in their son's demise. Powerful, passionate and frighteningly relevant, All My Sons, brought Arthur Miller his first major success as a playwright. This moving, tragic drama is a compelling tale of the ideological conflict between father and son, a merciless exposure of wartime profiteering and the American Dream.
Arthur Miller himself describes the structure of his 1947 classic All My Sons as “designed to bring a man into the direct path of the consequences he has wrought”. In this impressive new Library Theatre production, Miller's multi-layered writing is delivered straight to the heart.
American patriarch Joe Keller (David Fleeshman) lives for his family; he will do anything for them. Though their son Larry’s plane vanished in battle, Joe’s loyal wife Kate (Brigit Forsyth) is convinced he’s still alive and waits for him to return home. Meanwhile, the other son, Chris (Jamie Lee) has an announcement to make: he wants to marry Larry's sweetheart, Ann (Sally Bretton).
Against a backdrop of regret, heartache and the anti-climactic feelings of post-war America, All My Sons unfolds, with each member of this close-knit family harbouring a secret. These are slowly, and devastatingly, revealed as the illusions of their picket-fence existence are shattered.
Chris Honer's masterful direction ensures that the audience are, at the end of each act, left gasping at the sheer power and ingenuity of Miller’s writing. The story’s claustrophobic and desperate atmosphere is enhanced through Judith Croft's hotbed of a set, lit in a constant and unforgiving glare by Nick Richings.
Joe Keller is a proud but flawed father, and Fleeshman’s fascinating portrayal allows us to empathise with his plight to the end despite misleading first impressions. As mother and son, Forsyth and Lee also deliver fine performances, with final scenes that are literally heart-breaking. I don’t know how many dry eyes there were in the house at the opening night performance, but there were certainly plenty of wet ones.
Miller’s play starts off as a slow-burning family drama but goes on to embrace all the elements of a fine thriller – it’s a spiralling nightmare of the American Dream gone wrong. Intense, moving and enthralling, it’s one of the best pieces of theatre I have seen in the past year, and I doubt very much I’ll see anything as emotionally intense or satisfying in a long while to come.
St Peter's Square Manchester Greater Manchester M2 5PD
Telephone
0161 236 7110
Station
Description
Minicom - 0161 236 7110. In 2010 the theatre will perform in various venues before moving to its new home in a refurbished Theatre Royal in First Street in 2014.
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