amallmysons

Arthur Miller’s play //All My Sons// centers on the destruction of an American family due to the typical theme of the inherent flaws of the American Dream. The typical Arthur Miller topics of greed for money, disillusionment, denial, and extreme loss were all explored, but due a few poorly cast parts and odd choices in costume/set, the play was not performed as well as it could have been.

To be sure, some of the actors were wonderfully talented for example the actors/actresses who played Joe, Kate, Ann, and George; however, the same cannot be said for the rest. The actor playing Joe very easily fell into the role of the father overly concerned with success rather than morality, and he was fantastic to watch. The actress who played Kate Keller also did a phenomenal job. She perfectly played the role of a quick witted, stubborn mother, but also her emotionally raw scenes were very touching. The scene where she was reading the suicide letter from Larry to Ann was heart breaking. Her cries of anguish resounded through the silent audience and no one even seemed to breathe. Ann and George also played their parts very convincingly. The actress who played Ann was very beautiful, as the character was described, and though her character was sometimes unlikeable (such as when she showed Kate the letter from Larry) her emotions were all very tangible. It was clear that she was ready to move on and become married. George’s stiff movements and lack of facial movement very clearly articulated his position as a serious lawyer looking to free his wrongly accused father.

The actors who were not as talented as the aforementioned parts were mostly just side roles, but the poor acting of the main role of Chris was impossible to ignore. Chris Keller was especially stiff and unrealistic throughout the beginning of the play. His statement of, “I love you, I love you, I love you” was uncomfortable and unconvincing. His responses throughout the dialogue often seemed flat and overly rehearsed. His acting flaws were made even more noticeable by his poor acting being so strongly contrasted by the strong acting of several others. The only really emotionally convincing aspects of his character were the scenes in which he expressed great rage such as when he threw his father to the ground, but overall his acting was not on par with the others. The student who played Lydia was also very fake sounding. Her laughs were annoying and very clearly forced. The child who played Bert was very inexperienced so his acting flaws can be excused.

The music and sound effects, though seldom used, were very effective. The music that played during Kate’s monologues definitely added to the drama of these emotional moments. When she was recounting how she dreamt of Larry the previous night and found herself by the tree, the quiet, saddened music and spotlight on her glistening eyes all contributed to her already emotionally stirring performance. The other most effective use of sound was the gunshot sound when Joe committed suicide. Though frighteningly loud, the loudness was very necessary as the final act of a man driven to the end of his willingness to go on. With the insurmountable pain inflicted by the knowledge that he had effectively killed one son, and estranged another, he could not continue living his so desperately sought after life. He came to the realization that though he had believed that his responsibility was only to his family, he was also the father of all the boys out fighting in the war and they were all his sons. With this new revelation, he came to the dramatic conclusion that he had killed twenty one of his sons in addition to his real son. The quiet shushing of the mother after the enormously loud boom of the gunshot was eerily disturbing, but perfect for the final scene closing on a just destroyed family.

The props used throughout the play were very realistic. The apple that Joe ate was real, and the beans that Kate cleaned (though quite strangely since she would break them into halves or thirds and then put them in the bucket or sometimes back into her lap) were both real. The grape juice that Kate made especially for George was also real liquid. I enjoyed these small touches because oftentimes during plays actors must pretend to eat/drink and it detracts from the believability of a realistic setting. Though the set-up of the stage consisting of the floating frame of a house and fallen metal tree were beautiful, the rest of the staging was confusing. Through references to the poplar trees surrounding them, and the felled tree sitting just in front, they were obviously supposed to be outside for almost the entirety of the play with the exception of Ann taking a phone call from in the house. The bench was not strange in this regard, but the table set seemed completely out of place. I could not make up my mind as to whether people in the 1930’s-1940’s just happened to put dining sets outside, or if it was meant to be some sort of lawn furniture. The arrangement of having all the other actors sit behind the framed house in full view of the audience was also quite odd. It contrasted the realism of the play, but not in a good way. The slow walk up from the side of the stage by certain characters that had left the scene was sometimes timed to be in unison with another character on the opposite side of the stage, and I thought perhaps it would have some meaning pertaining to the play but an explanation was never revealed. I also felt pity for the boy who played the neighborhood kid Bert because he looked bored out of his mind sitting back there for so long.

The costumes, though coherent overall, had some major discrepancies that could not go unnoticed. It is perhaps just my being persnickety, but the color of Chris’ shoes and belt were completely mismatched. His shoes were a very light caramel while his belt was dark brown, and though the shoe and belt matching rule is often broken now, in the time period of the play it seems unlikely that such a mismatch of color would be acceptable. I cannot claim knowledge in the fashions of that time period, but the length of the ties often seemed strange as well. The high rise and pleats of the trousers was expected, but a tie (especially Joe’s red tie) that floats four or five inches above the waist of one’s trousers seems a bit odd. The women’s costumes (with the excepted of some shoes) were all well made and seemed appropriate. The below the knee length and high waists were all uniform and convincing. In particular Ann’s dresses were beautiful, and really complemented her figure. Her curled hair was also well done and very flattering. These features added to the characterization of her being beautiful. The Hawaiian shirts worn by Frank Lubey and showing socks obviously characterized him as a strange man. At one point, however, when his hat was taken off to show his “balding” I was sitting at a certain angle to the stage that made it so I could see the other side of his head and it appeared as though they only shaved the side that would face the audience. Though a very trivial detail, it lessened by ability to get caught up in the play as anything more than a play. Yet another minor flaw in costume was how Dr. Jim’s white hair looked as though they had poured baby powder into his hair and mustache. This seemed odd, especially since George’s graying hairs looked quite real.

Overall the play is quite difficult to pin down as either good or bad. There were some great aspects such as the acting and sound effects/lighting, but topical errors such as setting and costumes were hard to ignore and detracted from the visual believability of the realistic portrayal.