Here come the ‘Sons’
Before there was “Death of a Salesman,” before “The Crucible,” there was “All My Sons.”
This is Arthur Miller’s first Broadway success and it contains many of the themes that he would explore later in his Pulitzer-winning career: moral responsibility, middle-class desperation, father-son dynamics and the American business ethic, or lack thereof.
“All My Sons,” opening tonight at the Spokane Civic Theatre, is about Joe Keller, a war manufacturer (or profiteer) who sold airplane parts to the government during World War II.
When he announces his retirement, one of his sons, Chris, begins to question the basis for his father’s success. Was there something less than noble about Joe’s wartime contributions?
At the same time, Joe’s other son, Larry, a pilot, is reported missing. The connection between Chris’ suspicions and Larry’s disappearance forms the moral crux – or crucible, if you will – of this play.
Critics were mixed, at least partly because the play was perceived as having a liberal political agenda. Conservative critics called it “pat and cliché-ridden” and more like a rant than a work of drama, according to “The Oxford Companion to American Theatre.”
Other critics, however, recognized the debut of a major dramatic voice – a playwright with passion, talent and a sharp eye for American hypocrisy and self-delusion.
The play caused a minor sensation when it premiered in 1947, running for more than a year and establishing Miller as what critic Louis Kronenberger called at the time the “first among our new generation of playwrights.”
Two years later, Miller debuted “Death of a Salesman,” which established him as the premier American playwright. The name Willy Loman and the phrase “attention must be paid” became embedded in American culture.
“All My Sons” has not fared quite as well as “Death of a Salesman,” which has been revived numerous times and has become part of the school curriculum.
Yet “All My Sons” is in many ways more timely than ever. When it was revived in 1987 with Richard Kiley, New York Times critic Frank Rich wrote: “Keller’s selfish disregard for his responsibilities to society is a sad commonplace now. Even as a 1987 theatergoer admires Mr. Miller for fastening on an eternal issue, it’s hard not to ask the weary, equally eternal question, ‘So what else is new?’ “
Of a 2003 revival starring Richard Dreyfuss and Jill Clayburgh, Times reviewer Bruce Weber wrote: “It is full of Mr. Miller’s concerns about the contradictions and illusions that America fosters in its citizens, along with the healthy dreams that come with freedom and good fortune.”
Jessica McLaughlin Sety directs the Civic’s version, which opens tonight on the Main Stage. Joe Keller will be played by Wes Deitrick, Kate Keller by Kathleen Malcolm, and Chris Keller by Damon C. Mentzer.
The rest of the cast includes Kari Mueller, Steven Giaier, Mike Nelson, Karla Morrison, Maxwell Nightser, Michelle Philbin and Nikolaus Hofer.