MWAllMySons

__All My Sons __ The tragic collapse of the family is a common occurrence in literature, often shot into motion by a major conflict that reveals the true nature of the characters. In Arthur Miller’s classic play __All My Sons__, the family dynamic is scrutinized in the aftermath of a scandal that shocked and devastated a close-knit community in World War II-era America. __All My Sons__ as directed by Ray Paolino takes a blunt and calculating look at the world of Arthur Miller’s Keller family and each of their personal tragedies through the use of sensational stage design, realistic costumes, and expressive acting. The most complex and effective mechanism to bring __All My Sons__ to life was the use of a highly conceptual scene and stage design. The stage as a whole was reminiscent of an old-fashioned operating theatre where an audience of observers can witness and analyze the surgery being performed—in this case, the crumbling of the Keller family. The thrust stage that protruded into the audience was set at an angle to provide a clearer view of the action; it also gave the actors a sense of being on display on a dissection tray. The backdrop and other props onstage were very simplistic; the scenery mainly consisted of the skeleton of a house façade—a free-hanging outline of a door and windows with a clear view to the back of the stage. Props were minimalistic as well; a bench, a tree made of cold metal pipes, and a table with chairs were all that were present. The boldest choice in designing this stage involved placing the “offstage” actors in chairs on a platform behind the frame of the house. Stoically sitting silent and elevated above the rest of the acting space, these actors took part in the detached analysis of the actions and motives of the characters. When acting on such a bare and minimalist set, the dialogue and acting becomes even more important, and more attention is paid to the details and finer aspects of the relationships and characters being presented. The form and composition of the stage have their own relevance and meaning to the play as well. By having the stage set at an angle, it seemed to represent the unbalanced lives of the Keller family: Joe living in denial about his guilt, Kate living in denial about her dead son Larry, and Chris living in denial about his father’s involvement in the scandal. In an interesting parallel, this stage physically provides a type of unbalanced obstacle for the actors, just as each of the characters has their own emotional obstacles resulting from their actions during the war. The choice of styling in terms of props onstage—warm wood tones and classic styles of furniture—help to reinforce the time period of the 1940s, but also serve as a striking contrast between its warmth and the stark outline of the house and the metal piping seen throughout the rest of the set. Cold glimpses of metal are seen throughout the design, in the fallen “tree” lying in the Kellers’ backyard and the supports for the thrust stage and the house. The stylistic contrast of the modern set and the warm tones of the furniture give the stage the feel of a contained microcosm, the modern world watching and studying the actions and ideas of an era past. The screen backdrop at the back of the stage was also used in a subtle manner, almost imperceptibly changing color as the action progressed and got more intense. The hues of the later scenes in particular developed into a deep navy and violet as the gloomy tensions and struggles between the characters reached their climax. As untraditional as the staging and design of __All My Sons__ was, it truly gave a new depth to the performance onstage and made the audience question their own perceptions and ideas of the action; on seeing the actors upstage watching removed from the action while simultaneously remaining a part of it, the audience becomes more aware of itself. In addition, having a sparse stage with both modern and traditional elements effectively gives the play a feeling of an isolated world filled with raw characters and emotions. The costuming and outfitting of the actors of __All My Sons__ with props created a very realistic and time-appropriate cast of characters. The styles of the 1940s were recreated in the classy and simplistic styling—men in trousers and polished shoes, and women in solid pastel A-line dresses. A sense of the time period was especially noticeable through the use of small detailed accessories such as Ann’s delicate gloves, as well as earrings, suspenders, fedoras, old-fashioned women’s stockings, and hairstyles. The varied intricate hair styles of all the actresses appeared to come straight from the old photographs of American women during World War II and were impressive in their execution. The use of smaller props such as a pipe was also an interesting choice; it served as a physical detail to Jim’s character, yet it also served as a type of sensory realism as it was lit and its smell permeated the audience. Another instance of using actual working props to convey a more realistic scene is when Joe cuts an apple and eats it with Ann and Chris. Although this is a small gesture in the overall scheme of the play, the use of a real apple was endearing in the removed and inherently dark and flawed environment the Kellers live in. The overall effect of the costumes and props characterized __All My Sons__ with their slim and well-fitting silhouettes, bright colors, and minute details; the look of the cast was unified in a pristine, detailed, and retro manner fitting the scale and tone of the play. The actors’ roles of bringing Miller’s characters to life onstage was a process in which the audience could feel the actors getting more comfortable in their roles as the play progressed. The first act was frustrating to watch in the sense that some of the characters like Chris Keller were very stiff and bland, and there was initially little believability in the relationship between Joe and Kate Keller. The obstacle of accents plagued the actress playing Kate for a portion of the play, making her lines muddy and softer in volume than the voices of the other actors that carried through the audience. However, in the second act of the play, all of the characters seemed to reach deeper to attain a greater emotional depth and a true raw spark in personality. The character of Chris roared to life and took over the stage in a fantastic way that was intense and emotionally gritty, especially in the confrontational scene between himself and his father Joe. In a similar way, Kate grew more confident and eventually was just as bright and independent a character as the rest of the main cast. All of the characters in the later portions of the play were more developed, given and expressed more range, and were performed much more dynamically and with a greater sense and feel of the ensemble as a whole. There was a great balance of personalities and an illumination of the finer nuances and tensions within the many relationships onstage. In these later moments it felt like the cast was thoroughly exploring the characters’ history and motives and the finer points of each individual’s mentality. The actors all made full use of the acting space, pacing and gesticulating grandly in a manner reminiscent of caged animals, especially given the impression created by the “dissection tray” of a stage they acted on. All the characters, with the exception of Kate in the first part of the play, projected very well, especially Mr. Brian Reddy in the role of Joe Keller. Mr. Reddy had a phenomenal performance and managed to embody the desperate and trapped feelings of a morally compromised man avoiding the repercussions of his past. Although he sometimes came off as phony and over-exuberant, the character of Joe was well-realized through Mr. Reddy’s portrayal. Another notable character was that of Chris Keller in the later parts of the play. Initially flat and not compelling, the actor Mr. Valentine later exploded with fierce emotion and a depth of voice and character that was emotionally moving. He effectively portrayed the sense of betrayal, personal loss, and Chris’ collapse of reality as brought on by his father’s corrupt dealings. The vision of __All My Sons__ as created by the director and designers is definitely nontraditional, yet it still speaks to the same message of relationships and morals. Observing the Keller family from a cold, calculating and disconnected view such as an operating theatre is a very abstract idea that complemented the action. The deliberate, unemotional entrance and exit of the actors sitting upstage effectively created the feel of a jury or audience that added to the individual tensions of the characters onstage and the sense of tension and conflict felt by the actual audience. As for the physical setting, the skills and control required to act out such a complex emotional piece while on a tilted stage and not being able to leave the view of the audience are intense and demanding. The play worked cohesively towards realizing the director’s analytic vision, yet some of the early scenes and conversations lacked the same fluid transitions that characterized the rest of the work. At the start the play feels like a jumble of back-story, plot, and characters that jumps suddenly from character to character without ever clarifying or fully transitioning into different scenes. Initially, music and short radio clips were used to bridge some scene changes and attempt to transition between acts. Especially as the action picked up, the brief radio commercials and music interludes made more sense within the context of the play in terms of the themes of greed and commercialism. With the few exceptions of interpretation in transitions, the overall performance of the text read close to the sentiment Miller seemed to want to portray about American life. Miller’s language is a biting and realistic commentary on society, filled with guilt, despair, and the plight of the working man, with a slow-burning yet highly compelling plot and characters. __All My Sons __ is a classic play which has retained its relevancy and power on this particular stage through the use of creative and dynamic staging, realistic costume design, and expressive acting. The staging and creation of this show was bold and daring in the face of such a standard of American writing, yet it had a great clarity of emotion and style as well as a unique composition that worked well and did Miller’s writing justice. Although sometimes muddled in its dialogue and transitions, the large majority of the play is artfully ingenious in its attempt to manipulate Miller’s critique of the Keller family into a critique of the modern family and the motives of society.