Written in the aftermath of World War II, All My Sons showcases Arthur Miller’s ascendancy as one of America’s most significant 20th-century authors. Its 1947 premiere was a stark reminder for audiences celebrating an allied victory that even the worthiest of wars has a dark side.
In All My Sons, this dark side is twofold. The first evil is corporate greed. Affluent businessman Joe Keller, played by Michael Fisher-Welsh, has made a fortune by supplying airplane parts for the war efforts. The play reveals that the cost of this fortune was the lives of 21 pilots who died as a result of faulty parts, as well as the life of his business partner, who spent years in prison after Joe blamed him for cosmetically repairing the defective parts. The second evil runs much deeper—his apathy and willingness to continue life as usual on the home front, despite the fact that life has changed so much for people affected by the war.
Joe’s wife Kate (Mindi L. Logan), is one of the many characters who lives her life as though nothing has happened. Three years after her eldest son Larry goes missing in battle, Kate continues to insist that he’s alive. This complicates matters for Chris (Thomas Stroppel), the younger Keller son, who has returned home to announce his intentions to marry Larry’s former girlfriend, Ann Deever (Amy Newman).
Set in the Keller’s suburban backyard—with a blue sky and a picket fence for a backdrop—the play unfolds over the course of a single day. Inventive lighting masterfully delineates the passage of time. A sunrise, indicated by pink light and accompanied by birdsong, is one of the most sublime moments of the play. The normalcy of the sunrise makes the audience acutely aware of Chris’s struggle to understand how the world continues, even as the things he holds dear fall apart.
Newman is exceptional as Ann, the daughter who must choose between families. Her brother George (Matthew Dieckman) has just visited their disgraced father—Joe’s former business partner—in prison and returns to forbid Ann from marrying Chris. Dieckman brings an engrossing, haunting presence to his rather minor character and is an effective counterpoint to Logan’s equally riveting portrayal of Kate. The two seem delusional in their own ways, with Kate clinging to the idea that her son is alive and George insisting on his father’s innocence, despite the outcome of a trial.
Stroppel beautifully brings tormented Chris to life, and his struggle to balance filial piety and justice is in perfect concert with Fisher-Welsh’s Joe, who, with Chris’ help, is able to overcome his myopic worldview and realize the true devastation that his business tactics have wrought.
A revival of this play runs the risk of seeming dated. The dialog is period authentic and comes dangerously close to being trite with its intentionally folksy grammatical errors. The subject matter may be over 50 years old, but because of the depth that the cast brings to Miller’s script and characters, Artists Repertory Theatre has succeeded in making this play a fresh indictment on the perils of greed and the dissociation that the modern world facilitates.