Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

Arthur Miller’s first Broadway success, All My Sons, debuted on a grandiose scale in 1947 at the Coronet Theatre (now the Eugene O’Neill).  It was in this 1100-seat venue that audiences first witnessed Joe Keller’s downfall as a modern tragic hero and victim of the materialistic side of wartime America’s quest for an idealized dream.  Now audiences can acquaint themselves with Keller and Miller’s nine other characters on a more intimate level at the Turtle Shell Theatre, where the modern tragedy proves no less relevant in today’s atmosphere, and only occasionally misguided in this smaller space.

In Etc. Etcetera Theatre Company’s production, director Shawn Rozsa invites audiences into the world of the Kellers’ suburban backyard, far removed from the recent front lines and soldier’s graves, yet close to Joe Keller’s successful plant, which manufactured airplane parts for the World War II effort.  We quickly learn that many details of the Kellers’ seemingly enviable lifestyle are more fabricated than their white picket fence: Mrs. Keller unwaveringly waits for the return of a son whom everyone else believes to have been killed in the war, while Mr. Keller displays a disconcerting of habit of telling neighborhood children that their basement is really a prison.  As the Keller’s son, Chris, announces his intention to marry his missing brother’s former girlfriend, Ann, neighbors and friends share memories and family secrets reveal themselves, making the impending marriage seem as idealistic as the American Dream itself. 

For the most part, Rozsa manages well the script’s juxtaposition of the apparent safety of a quaint, suburban neighborhood with the threat of greed, deception, and wartime violence.  He allows the characters considerable movement within their small space, lending them a restless nature appropriate within an environment made stifling by years of secrecy and hidden pain.  Many of the characters repeatedly threaten to leave the Kellers’ house for good, but the best they can do is pace from one boundary of the picket fence to the other.  There are several moments, however, when elements of the set get in the actors’ way, as is the case with the two chairs that occupy center stage throughout the production.  As the actors weave behind and around them, often moving them to angle certain ways for reasons that are not completely clear, one wishes someone would move them out of the way altogether.

Kevin Lock and Daniel Krause’s set design is functional and appropriate to the space (with the exception of the pesky chairs), simplistic yet cozy, with the fence providing an effective combination of protection and isolation from the world beyond it. 

The cast is to be applauded for handling Arthur Miller’s tome of a script given limited rehearsal time – no easy task.  Paul Casali and Melissa Davis deliver particularly strong performances as the young engaged couple, while Paul Wilcox and Catherine Hennessey are successful as Joe and Kate Keller, if a bit larger than life for the space at times.  Dan Patrick Brady and Bryan Close effectively represent opposing images of post-war suburbia; meanwhile, Lori Funk’s portrayal of the disenchanted late 1940s housewife neighbor is dead-on, but overdone within the context of the rest of the production.

All My Sons runs through May 23^rd.  Though at times the production seems to want to expand beyond the space allotted to it, there are also times when the condensed environment and intimate interaction serve the piece well.  The latter moments make the production worth seeing.