5 STARS, April 11-14. Personal, family and patriotic honour, truth and loyalty – timeless themes in a brilliant production by the talented Guildburys
Jonathan Constant
Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” is a passionate play set in the aftermath of the second World War. Joe and Kate and their son Chris seem a well-balanced, normal family, but we soon realise that they carry the pain of their other son’s probable death in a missing plane three years before, and Kate’s refusal to believe that he has died. Joe owns a factory that made parts for warplanes.
Further below the surface of their homey façade is the memory and present fact that Joe’s old friend and employee, Deever, has been gaoled for allowing faulty parts to be sent out, leading to the deaths of airmen when their planes crashed. Joe has managed to deny blame for himself but the gossip is that he should be in gaol too. When Chris announces that he intends to marry Ann, Deever’s daughter, who had been engaged to marry his missing brother, emotions run high.
The excellent cast, immersed in the play, engage us fully, superbly carrying the characters’ passionate discussions of honour, honesty, responsibility and the role of money and materialism in times of war.
Mark Ashdown as Joe Kellar, the confident, jokey family man, develops under pressure to show the deeply dishonest side of his character: cowardly, selfish, betrayer of his friend and of the men who died when he valued his own personal gain above their lives.
Chris Kellar (Steve Graham is a calm, gentle man, supportive of his parents. He has learnt honour as the leader of men in the war – and carries guiltily his memory of losing them in action. His unbearable distress when that honour is compromised is very moving.
Laura Sheppard as Kate Kellar is a strong figure, pitiful in her obsessive belief that her other son still lives, powerful in her obstinacy and refusal to allow Chris her blessing on his plan to marry Ann. Her grief at the end of the play is mythical: her world is torn apart, her hands clawing her face, a mask of despair. My own eyes were overflowing with the enormity of her emotion.
And, not a bystander but a catalyst, the character of Ann Deever (Catherine Ashdown) interacts with this needy family. Her slightly awkward grace in a new dress and high-heeled shoes, her warmth towards Chris and her tact and firmness with her prospective in-laws are always engaging and always meaningful.
This is a wonderful play, timeless in its discussion of personal, family and patriotic values and loyalty. And this is a wonderful production, directed superbly by Robert Sheppard. It’s on every night until Saturday 14th April - not to be missed!
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