All My Sons

Sydney Theatre Company play it straight with Arthur Miller's 1957 play All My Sons. With Australian theatre mainstays John Howard and Robyn Nevin heading a standout cast, it was impossible for this production to step a foot wrong — and it didn't.

All My Sons is a treatise on the relationship between capitalism and war, on the lengths we will go to for money, and for family. It is a snapshot of a family torn apart during WWII and their desperate, failed attempts to rebuild. Howard is Joe Keller, a man accused of selling cracked engine heads to the US Army. Although he was exonerated, the feeling in the neighbourhood, and within the family, is that he did it — and that his actions lead to the death of their son Larry in the war, a truth that lays dormant. Joe and Kate (Robyn Nevin)'s other son, Chris, played by Chris Ryan — all hope, then fury, sadness — becomes engaged to 'Larry's girl', Ann Deever, played by Eryn Jean Norvill, the daughter of Joe's business partner, who is currently serving time in prison for the supply of those very same engine heads.

The dialogue is as tight and arresting as when it was written — and given a new shine by the interactions between cast members, particularly in the final act between Ryan and Howard. Meanwhile, a house looms above the action, as created by designer Alice Badge. We see through windows, a door left ajar, until the play's conclusion, when the truth — and the insides of a house built on lies told and maintained — are revealed.