Critics'
Pick
A superb 'All My Sons'
By Kerry Reid
Special to the Tribune
Published August 19, 2005
Arthur Miller's first successful play, "All My Sons," has lost little
of its spark and sorrow since its 1947 debut. In the excellent
Actors Workshop Theatre staging by Michael Colucci (who
also plays a lead role), the story unfolds with almost unbearable
rawness. The tiny storefront space has been adroitly transformed into
the back yard of the Keller family, whose oldest boy, Larry,
disappeared in battle over the China Sea five years earlier and whose
mother, Kate, still believes he will return. The broken tree limbs and
smashed flowerpot on Jan Ellen Graves' set suggest the tragic uprooting
facing the family. Graves also plays the Keller family matriarch.
Joe Keller (Colucci) allowed his partner and neighbor, Steve Deever, to
take the fall for shipping faulty aircraft parts from their plant--a
business decision that killed 21 men. Deever's estranged daughter and
Larry's former fiance, Ann, shows up at the invitation of the Kellers'
surviving son, Chris, who plans to marry her, and she is soon followed
by her brother George, who is bent on clearing their father's name. The
characters' intricate maneuvering between what is known and what is
covered up (and for what reasons) gives this piece its compelling
texture. The back yard becomes a battlefield of shattered illusions,
shifting alliances and painful realizations.
Graves is astonishing as the
determined-if-deluded mama lion Kate and her confrontations with Marisa
Sanders' vulnerable Ann are wrenching. Colucci delivers a
superbly detailed but lived-in performance as the genial Joe,
a man who has learned to hide his guilt and demons underneath an air of
blustery bonhomie. "You play cards with a man, you know he can't be a
murderer," he explains to Ann. But even as his self-justifications
begin to break apart, Miller allows Joe to speak some poignant truths
about blame and punishment: "A little man makes a mistake and they hang
him by the thumbs; the big ones become ambassadors."
Through Sept. 11 at Actors Workshop Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr
Ave., $15-$20; 773-728-7529.
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Highly
Recommended
Jack Helbig
Friday, August 5,
2005
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ALL MY SONS
Though Michael Colucci produced, directed, and stars in this revival of
Arthur Miller's 1947 play, it's not like most vanity productions. For
one thing, Colucci
delivers an impressive performance as the corrupt patriarch at
the center of the story, about a war profiteer accused of selling
faulty airplane parts. For another, his direction is as strong as his
acting. He even manages to turn his storefront theater's awkward
space--a long, narrow, claustrophobia- inducing back room--into an
asset, upping the intensity of this pressure cooker of a show. It
doesn't hurt that the ensemble includes actors of the caliber of Jan Ellen Graves and
Marisa Sanders, who know how to express the full complexity of Miller's
emotional roller coaster. Every word and gesture in this
American tragedy is important--and that's just how Colucci's cast plays
it. --Jack Helbig
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Riveting Miller postwar drama stands test
of time
By BETTY MOHR
Correspondent, Daily Southtown, September 2, 2005
A gripping tale of human tragedy, “All My Sons” still comes across as
compelling today as when it first opened on Broadway in 1947.
Time hasn’t dimmed the emotional intensity of Arthur Miller’s second
play, and under Michael Colucci’s direction at the Actors Workshop
Theatre, the melodrama builds with increasing urgency to a powerful
climax.
Though the Actors Workshop production fits into a tiny storefront
space, its presentation of Miller’s classic is reminiscent of the golden days of Chicago
theater in the 1970s, when many of our now renowned theater
companies (such as Steppenwolf Theatre) mounted stunning works on small
stages.
Indeed, the Workshop’s intimate space gives one the feeling of being
right there in the midst of the turmoil and drama of the Miller tale.
Seated in the midst of Jan Ellen Graves’ typical Middle American
backyard setting, it’s easy to feel that you’re part of the Keller
household around which the play revolves.
The action takes place just after World War II, when families in
America are trying to heal the personal damage inflicted by the war.
During that time, the family’s patriarch, Joe Keller (a riveting and searing
portrayal by Colucci), was involved in a scandal in which
aircraft parts manufactured by his company were found flawed and led to
the deaths of American fighter pilots.
The Kellers’ eldest son, Larry, never returned from the war, and his
mother, Kate (an intense and gripping
performance by Graves), believes he is still alive and missing
in action.
The spark that ignites the tensions of the household is their other
son, Chris (a convincing portrait by
Jason Daniels), who has fallen in love with his brother’s
girlfriend, Annie (a nice turn by
Marisa Sanders).
The drama heightens when Annie’s brother, George (Ken Still), arrives
with crucial information that suggests Joe was responsible for the
faulty aircraft parts, setting off an explosive confrontation between
Chris and his father.
The transition that takes place between Chris and Joe during the play
is one of the most fascinating aspects of this production. Chris begins
as a loving son who idolizes his father and ends up feeling tragically
betrayed by him.
The conflict between personal ethics and social responsibility upon
which this play rests is a continuous struggle to this day. That may be
why Miller’s play continues to be of interest.
That Actors Workshop has given the work such a strong presentation
makes “All My Sons” ever more worthy of our attention.
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Theater: All My Sons
2005-08-17
BY SCOTT C. MORGAN
All My Sons may
be 58 years old, but it couldn’t be more timely. The late
Arthur Miller’s play of war-profiteering recriminations makes you
ponder what effect All My Sons would have if it played in, say,
Washington, D.C., right now. Or better yet in the Houston home-town of
Halliburton’s headquarters.
As Miller’s first Broadway success, All My Sons tempered post-World War
II optimism by pointing out that a lot of American companies enjoyed an
economic windfall off of the bloodshed of war. Miller personalized this
dilemma through two Ohio families haunted by accusations that their
profit-driven manufacturing company willingly put soldiers’ lives in
risk by supplying defective fighter plane parts.
At the cozy Actors Workshop Theatre, All My Sons receives a strong
production... Michael Colucci does great
double duty as director and a performer, anchoring the production with
him imposing presence and skilled guidance.
Colucci plays the powerful patriarch Joe Keller, easily capturing his
commanding presence as king of his home and business domains. He’s
joined at the hip with an equally
good performance by Jan Ellen
Graves as his wife, Kate, who clutches on the hope
that her missing-in-action son will one day return home alive.
Jason Daniels also gives a
strong performance as Chris, the Keller son and war
veteran who wonders if this American life was worth fighting for.
Playing the character whom Miller positions as the idealistic and
moralistic center, Daniels rightfully comes off as someone you’d want
to put your trust in.
...The rest of
the cast is good... The
final scene’s confrontations has the ensemble working up an angry storm
of emotions that have tremendous impact in these close confines.
The anger Miller drums up in All My Sons also spreads to the audience,
especially if they consider the Bush administration’s broken early
promises of an easy-to-win Iraqi war and the proceeds of oil paying for
it all. Although it’s set in the 1940s, All My Sons feels extremely
relevant today, especially when you think of the human cost of all the
brave military service members killed or in harm’s way now in the
Middle East.
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Highly
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
July 24, 2005
Jeff Recommended |
There's nothin' he
could do that I wouldn't forgive. Because he's my son ...I'm his father
and he's my son, and if there's something bigger than that I'll put a
bullet in my head!
–Joe Keller
from All My Sons
Miller’s first
hit play an indication of things to come.
After 58 years, All My Sons
holds up as one of the finest 20th Century plays. Arthur Miller’s first
Broadway success (328 performances), shows his craftsmanship and his
copious study of ancient Greek tragedies (Sophocles) and the works of
Henrik Ibsen. Miller’s excellent crafting of All My Sons is a primer on plot
development through well-rounded characters. Miller deftly starts with
normal conversations from ordinary people in small town America in 1947
just after the end of World War II. He skillfully weaves in the
character flaws that will lead eventually to the necessity of
restoration of order and the righting of wrongs past and the freeing
from guilt. The journey is a mesmerizing theatre experience.
The Actors
Workshop Theatre has mounted a wonderful production of the Miller hit. All My Sons features Michael Colucci as Joe Keller
(Colucci is also the show’s director), Jan
Ellen Graves (Colucci’s off-stage wife) as Kate Keller. Together
with the marvelous work from Jason
Daniels as the son Chris, The Actors Workshop Theatre has
mounted a gripping and thoroughly riveting drama that holds us from the
start as it carries us through the paradoxes and illusions of the
American Dream. Miller gives us empathetic Middle American
characters who are nice, even likable but flawed. From the son who
suffers from ‘survivor’s guilt’ and now hates his family’s wealth to
the disillusioned doctor who gave up his dream of medical research for
the general medical practice, Miller blends social realism (with
Miller’s somewhat socialist slant) with classic Greek tragedy. Miller
replaces kings with ordinary folks.
The family is dominant in most Miller plays and All My Sons introduces themes
Miller uses throughout his career—father-son conflict, loyalty to
family and family control versus personal desires. Kate Keller can’t
come to grips with Larry, her son, who has been ‘missing in action’ for
three years. She deceives herself into believing he’ll return one day.
Joe supports her since he doesn’t want to shatter the family’s harmony.
We see another Miller theme—character’s convincing themselves
that their lies are the truth.
With these themes working, Miller moves the story into dealing with the
role of social responsibility (morality) versus business success. Did
Joe and his partner knowingly supply the military with defective
airplane parts resulting in the death of 21 pilots?
Joe was found innocent b the Appeals Court. How do family secrets
become so burdensome that overtime they destroy from within?
All My Sons
puts a face and a personality to the family as they deal with these
dilemmas. The Actors Workshop Theatre’s intimate storefront space with
a marvelous set (designed by Jan Ellen Graves) depicting
the back garden of the Keller house adds warmth to the show. The performances
from the three principles makes this All
My Sons
one of 2005’s best.
Michael Colucci was tremendous as
Joe Keller. Colucci commands the stage yet he lets his guilt and
vulnerability show through at the right moments. We then see him
‘recover’ to his “see it human” rationalization of his business ethics.
We like him, yet we hate his flaws. Colucci aptly depicts the tragedy
of Joe Keller. This performance is in award-winning territory. I also
enjoyed the powerful, even neurotic Kate Keller as played by Jan Ellen Graves. From the start,
Graves hints of the enabler and protector role Kate has toward the
family. Together with the effective and charmingly idealistic, yet
tortured Chris, played with a quiet confidence by the talented Jason Daniels, All My Sons is ripe with terrific performances
that do justice to Miller’s work.
With fine
support from Dan McNamara (Dr.
Jim Bayliss), Ken Still as
George Deever, the cast all landed fine ensemble work. Marisa Sanders as Ann Deever, Chris’
love interest delivered a marvelous performance.
All My Sons is a weighty play full of ambiguity
and moral decay told with style and grace in a smoothly flowing show
that left me on the edge of my seat in anticipation of the next scene.
Seeing a classic play performed flawlessly is why we go to theatre. Not all shows deliver like this one. This
is electrifying theatre. Don’t miss it!
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ARTHUR MILLER’S ALL MY
SONS
COMES HOME TO ACTORS
WORKSHOP THEATRE
Theatreworld Internet
Magazine - July 24, 2005
Ruth Smerling
There was a time not too long ago, when
men didn’t have the faintest idea they had a feminine side. They
weren’t in touch with their feelings. They didn’t highlight their hair.
If they were lucky, they owned one or two suits, and kept them their
entire lives. During that time, for about 20 years post World War II, a
man was the backbone of a family. He’d go out and work 10 or 12 hours a
day. He probably didn’t have a college degree. He probably was engaged
in some kind of backbreaking labor. Dad was an authority figure. Not
someone to be reckoned with. And Mom, no matter how many kids she had
to take care of, or how many loads of laundry she had to do, always had
supper on the table when Dad got in and came to dinner dressed like
June Cleaver.
The Actors
Workshop Theatre ending its season’s tribute to Pulitzer Prize-winning
playwright Arthur Miller, invites you to go back to that simple time,
with the moving and brilliant saga, ALL MY SONS.
Directed by
Artistic Director Michael Colucci, who also stars as Joe Keller, ALL MY
SONS unfolds on a set so bright it almost feels like the sun is
shining. It’s a hot summer day in the Keller’s backyard. Michael
Colucci sits nonchalantly in a rocking chair as Joe, reading the paper
and talking to Dr. Jim Bayliss (Dan McNamara), an old friend. Soon
their conversation shifts from pleasantries and small talk to the son
that Joe has lost. He was a war hero and he’s been gone for over three
years. His wife, Kate, played by Colucci’s real life wife, Jan Ellen
Graves, believes he’s going to come home any day. She doesn’t want to
admit he is gone.
They try to keep a
normal appearance, but this family will never be the same. As the day
goes by, the neighbors start to drop in. Busybody Sue
Bayliss, played by adorable Debra Rodkin, comes over looking for
her husband, Dr. Jim. And Lydia (Christine Rosencrans) has to say
hello. Well meaning Frank Lubey (Theo Marshall) rushes in to tell Joe
that he’s doing an astrology chart on his missing son. He is positive
that he’s going to return because he disappeared on a day that was
lucky in his chart.
Everyone in the
neighborhood is on pins and needles waiting for Chris (Jason Daniels),
Joe and Kate’s remaining son, to propose marriage. He’s invited Ann
Deever (Marisa Sanders) and the young, beautiful Ann is an instant hit.
For a brief moment it’s almost like this family will be able to return
to normal with the hope of Chris and Ann getting married and having
kids and getting everyone’s mind off things. Then everything steams up
when Ann’s brother, George (Ken Still) enters. He’s dead against the
two of them marrying. He doesn’t want his sister married into the
Keller family. George tells her that Joe is the reason their father
went to prison.
Is that enough to
get you interested? It’s like watching 16 episodes of one of the first
prime time soap opera hits, Peyton Place, at once. But that’s not the
reason to see this show. The
main reason to see this show is a fabulous explosive performance by Jan
Ellen Graves. Although she’s
magnificent as Kate Keller, never a hair out of place, dressed
perfectly and always has a clean house ready for company, Jan has
really made her a human specimen, incarnating her on many levels. Kate
is a woman who handles the responsibility of taking care of a home and
family, which she has down cold. But threatening her stability are the
deep dark secrets that gnaw at her day and night. And she grieves for
her missing son so painfully. At times she fails to keep it all in
check and all hell breaks loose. But Jan has it all under control.
To make this play even more intimate and visceral, the audience is
nearly in the show. The set,
framed by thriving flowers and knick knacks, sprawls nearly to the
seats, with the actors performing a very short distance from even the
furthest seats.
The Actors Workshop Theatre has forged another artistic triumph with
ALL MY SONS, vividly recreating an American era with all its
complexities, nuances and psyche. All the things that make people
lovable and memorable.
ALL MY SONS is highly recommended and runs through August 21 at the Actors
Workshop Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr. Phone 773-728-PLAY (7529) for
tickets and information.
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Q&A
Arthur Miller's
dark play makes for sobering night
By Jenn Q. Goddu
Special to the Tribune
Published July 15, 2005
Set in 1947 with two every-American type families trying to pick
up the post-war pieces, Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" is a drama
dealing with war profiteering, individual responsibility, guilt, shame
and family secrets.
Patriarch Joe Keller, the main character, is both a family man
and a businessman guilty of committing a horrible crime--shipping out
defective war-plane parts, which later caused the deaths of their
pilots. His business partner went to prison, but Keller escaped
punishment and profited financially from the venture.
Although it's not light summer theater fare, the play is being
performed at two theaters this month. David Mink is directing shows at
Oak Park Festival Theatre, opening Monday, and Michael Colucci helms
performances at the Actors Workshop Theatre in Chicago beginning July
24. In addition to directing, Colucci plays the part of Joe Keller.
Actors Workshop's managing director Jan Graves, Colucci's real-life
wife, takes the role of his onstage spouse.
Both directors talked with On the Town about the play, their
productions and the show's demands on the audience.
Q. "All My Sons" is set on the heels of World War II. Why stage
this play today?
David Mink: Isn't it real topical, Michael?
Michael Colucci: I think it's very topical. Not just because of
the war in Iraq, either ...The lack of corporate ethics or integrity is
a time-honored tradition.
Mink: Corporate greed overcoming corporate responsibility has
gone on and on and on, probably way earlier than 1947, and it's
probably happening right now.
Q. Miller's play was inspired by a true story of a manufacturer
who knowingly shipping out defective parts for tanks during World War
II. Does it matter if the audience knows Miller's story is rooted in
reality?
Colucci: It probably makes it a little bit more accessible.
Mink: What I'm always afraid of is that people are going to sit
there and go "OK, so he killed 21 people. So, who cares? Get over it."
But if they're going to do that, they're going to do it, and I guess
it's our challenge to help them not to do that.
Q. How does the play lend itself to outdoor staging?
Mink: The play takes place outside in Joe Keller's back yard,
which is sort of a neighborhood gathering place, and so putting the
play outside, I think, just fits right in. Of course, it presents
certain challenges. At least if you're doing a show inside, you have
the seats bolted in the direction you want the audience to look.
However, outside I'm afraid that we're going to have to command their
attention in behavioral ways.
Q. On the flip side, the Actors Workshop is trying to capture
that outdoor feeling in a small studio. Both the stage and audience
area function as the set.
Colucci: Yes. The Actors Workshop theater stage is going to be
the patio area and the audience area is going to the back yard itself
and we're doing it in the round. ... It's going to have, I hope, a
cramped feel whereby the skeletons that the Kellers have tried to hide
over the years are going to be on full display.
Q. Do you envy David being able to stage it outside?
Colucci: He's competing with a lot of different elements but that
could really work in his favor. I think, David, if you get a couple of
ambient noises that don't completely intrude upon the atmosphere of
each scene, hopefully not the critical scenes, it's going to have a
nice feel to it because that's how Miller wrote the play [set outside].
Mink: One of the challenges for my actors is that it's a very
naturalistic kitchen-sink kind of play, but we're in a ceiling-less
theater if you will. ... I always keep saying: `That's great. Now talk
a little louder. Let it out a little more.'
Colucci: That's the complete opposite of what we need to do. ...
It's such a dramatic play, and some have accused Miller of being
over-dramatic or melodramatic and I think we have to be careful of how
far we go. It's such a small space, we don't want to overdo it to the
point that it becomes pathos or melodrama.
Mink: The depth of the emotion is really incredible. ... It
doesn't let up ... because as the skeletons become unearthed, the
stakes get higher and things get more important. You're just asking a
lot of everyone.
Colucci: Everybody, actors and audience.
Mink: It's surprising actually that "Death of a Salesman" is more
Miller's--whatever you say--signature play, ... because this is such a
great one. ... "Death of a Salesman" is a great play but ... Willy
Loman is a character that is more easily identified with, and maybe
even a little bit more romantic ... whereas Joe is a despicable son of
a bitch. I mean he killed; he murdered 21 people who were wearing the
same color of uniform.
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onthetown@tribune.com
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