By D. A. Blackburn
When we think of the great American playwright Arthur Miller, the bulk of out attention tends to focus on a select few of his most widely read works: "Death of a Salesman," "The Crucible" and "A View from the Bridge". But as the Hilberry Theatre's latest production proves, Miller's earliest commercial success, "All My Sons," is a work that bears the hallmarks of its younger, better-known siblings, and it deserves equal recognition.
Like its popular brethren, "All My Sons" is a work about moral virtue and the corruption of the American Dream. Set against a backdrop of post World War II America, "Sons" centers on the Kellers, a family touched in equal proportion by the horrors of war and the pitfalls of war-time profiteering.
Family patriarch Joe has been tried and exonerated for shipping faulty airplane parts that sent 21 pilots to their deaths. He has lost one son in the war, and his remaining son, Chris, has fallen in love with the daughter of the business partner who took the fall for his professional indiscretion. The story that unfolds is one of powerful realizations, as Chris grapples with his perception of his father, and Joe discovers that in trying to do right by his own sons, he has forsaken his obligations to the greater society – and to the 21 pilots who were, essentially, all his sons.
The drama that plays out is dark and heavy material, and it is generally well handled by the cast. Noteworthy performances include those of Brian P. Sage and Aaron Kirby who make a fine pair as Joe and Chris Keller. Sage seems at ease in this type of edgy, masculine role, just as he did in the Hilberry's recent "Born Yesterday." In "Sons" he shows a considerably wider range of emotion, with an equally appealing result. Kirby, too, shows true poise navigating his character's transformation from doting son to enraged antagonist.
REVIEW:
'All My Sons'
Hilberry Theatre, 4743 Cass Ave., Detroit. Plays in rotating repertory through May 16. Tickets: $10-$30. For information: 313-577-2972 or http://www.hilberry.com
