NEW YORK—Arthur Miller’s All My Sons is a tale about the importance of personal responsibility as well as an indictment of those who seek to profit from war, as powerfully shown in the current Broadway revival.
In a post-World War II American town, Joe and Kate Keller’s (John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest) existence is tainted by scandal. During the war, Joe was accused of deliberately selling cracked airplane cylinders to the army, which resulted in the death of 21 pilots.
Joe, the owner of the factory where the parts were made, was originally convicted of the charge, but was exonerated on appeal and put the blame on his partner, who ended up going to jail. But despite everyone seeming to accept Joe’s explanation, in actuality few doubt his guilt, despite Joe’s continual efforts to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the community.
Joe and Kate are also trying to cope with the loss of their son Larry, who was reported missing in the Pacific more than three years earlier. However, any chance to really deal with this issue is continually stymied by Kate absolutely refusing to believe Larry is dead.
This “walking on eggshells to avoid facing the truth” existence is about to be tested when their son Chris (Patrick Wilson), who survived the war intact, announces Larry’s girlfriend, Ann (Katie Holmes), will soon be arriving. Chris and Ann have been writing letters to one another for some time, and when she arrives, Chris plans to ask her to marry him. Joe gives his approval, but Kate won’t hear of it. From almost the first minute Ann arrives, Kate lets slip veiled and not so veiled comments about Ann being Larry’s girl. The fact that Ann is also the daughter of Joe’s former partner, (Ann and her family moved away after what happened), also creates tension.
More troubles may be coming with the imminent arrival of Ann’s brother George (Christian Camargo), who recently visited his father in prison, a fact that makes Joe wonder if the secret he’s been keeping will finally be revealed.
But more than a question of Joe’s culpability, the play also looks at how everyone else handles the situation. (Some by trying to confront it head on, others by looking the other way, and others in deep and desperate denial, with a need to put the incident behind them.) There is also the underlying idea, and centerpiece of the story, that one has the responsibility to do more than help just those they know and love, one also has a duty to mankind at large.
