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Review brought by dcmdva-arts.org/
reviewed by David Sobelsohn
"ALL MY SONS"
Arena Stage
Fichandler Theatre
Washington, DC
(202) 488-3300 (voice)
(202) 484-0247 (TTY)
through June 25
Post-War Secrets and Lies
As Sherman famously observed, "War is hell." But for many Americans, the second world war must have seemed more nearly heaven. After years of
drift and depression, the nation had a unifying mission. Thousands got good, well-paid jobs to support the war effort. And many of their
employers made a fortune.
War profiteering provides the background for Arthur Miller's first commercially successful play, "All My Sons" (1947), at Arena Stage's
Fichandler Theatre through June 25. During the war, Joe Keller (M. Emmet
Walsh) and Steve Deever ran an airplane-parts factory. But some of the parts had hairline cracks, and 21 American flyers died. Soon afterwards,
Keller's son Larry, an Air Force pilot, went missing in action. For
knowingly supplying defective parts, Steve Deever went to prison. But Joe Keller swore ignorance, stayed free, and became rich. Over three years
later--two since war's end--Keller's wife Kate (Beth Fowler) insists their son Larry is still alive. A crisis erupts when Larry's brother Chris
(David Fendig) announces plans to marry Larry's sweetheart, Ann (Rhea Seehorn). Ann also happens to be Steve Deever's daughter. Then Ann's
brother George (Paul Morella) arrives. Newly convinced of Joe's guilt, George demands Ann break off her engagement.
"All My Sons" recalls an earlier theater, that of Ibsen, Sardou, and the "well-made play," a term used sarcastically even in the 19th-century.
Reunions provide the occasion for detailed exposition. Key characters go off stage just before crucial revelations. A concealed letter with an
important secret gets flourished at moments of maximum effect. The ending is repeatedly telegraphed.
Miller mixes in heavy symbolism. A tree erected in Larry's memory topples just before Ann and Chris announce their engagement. A neighbor
(Christopher Walker), preparing Larry's horoscope, repeatedly reminds everyone that Larry disappeared November 25--a date the calendar reveals
as Thanksgiving Day, 1943. Mother Kate supports her belief in Larry's survival by alluding to the biblical binding of Isaac ("God does not let a
son be killed by his father").
Director Molly Smith and designer Pavel Dobrusky add to the telegraphing and the symbolism. A basketball backboard reflects the secret letter
before we understand its significance. A startling stage effect
re-enforces the theme of concealment brutally stripped--and underscores the characters' differing connections to that concealment. During an argument
with his son, in a flamboyant act out of character, Joe Keller flings
dollar bills from his pocket while telling Chris if he doesn't want money he can "throw it away."
But despite its flaws, "All My Sons" at Arena Stage has undeniable power and builds to a gripping climax. (The opening-night audience responded
with a standing ovation.) Part of the momentum comes from Smith's wise decision to address a structural weakness in Miller's three-act play by
eliminating the second intermission.
And some of the power comes from Dobrusky's dazzling set. "All My Sons" takes place in the Kellers' secluded backyard. Initially, the
Fichandler's intimate, in-the-round stage seems unsuited for a setting
intended to symbolize the Kellers' fantasy of a world ending at their own property line. But Dobrusky has made a virtue of necessity. A sparsely
furnished, neatly manicured, grass-carpeted and flower-hedged square
divides center stage--the principal playing area--from pathways leading to the neighbors' mailboxes. Large white fenceposts surround the audience,
making us all visitors of the Kellers and suggesting our own complicity. This backyard ends up a kind of purgatory, a prison rather than a refuge.
Anne Kennedy contributed fine midcentury suburban costumes. And Timothy Thompson's evocative sound covers a wide range, from chirping birds and
honking cabs to resonant strings and haunting choruses.
The production also features an electrifying performance by Beth Fowler as Kate Keller, the play's fulcrum in Smith's staging. Fowler entirely
embodies a fiercely protective wife and mother, portraying with absolute
conviction a woman whose own self-certainty approaches that of a religious fanatic. Yet when called for she can show vulnerability and even, in the
play's lighter moments, pinpoint comic timing.
None of the other performances quite comes up to Fowler's level, but a few come close enough. Fendig makes a tough, forceful Chris Keller, a guilty
idealist whose world crumbles with his illusions. As Ann Deever, Seehorn has maturity, breathless anxiety, and expressive sensitivity. Morella
gives brother George a convincing mix of bitterness, sarcasm, and cowardice, performing throughout on crutches, right leg taped up to
simulate a war hero's missing limb. Among various neighbors, Craig Wallace excels as a cynical doctor, and Katie Barrett bubbles as the
laughing girl-next-door George let get away.
But Walsh, a prominent film and television actor, doesn't quite catch Joe Keller. It's hard to know what to ascribe to Walsh and what to Smith's
direction. Bearlike, with rounded shoulders, Walsh never really projects
the authority and confidence one expects from the founder of a successful business. Too often he seems overpowered by Fendig and Fowler. As a
result, in one confrontational scene, Fendig comes across as terrorizing a small, pathetic old man rather than dethroning a crippled idol.
Many consider Arthur Miller America's greatest living playwright. In "All My Sons" he first grappled with some of the themes--truth, guilt, parents
and children--that animate later, better-known works, especially "Death of a Salesman" and "The Crucible." Thoughtful theatergoers should seriously
consider attending Arena Stage's solid production of this seminal work.
-end-
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