June 2010
by
Boxoffice Review
This is a play the Independent was calling ‘The closest thing the West End gets to a Summer Blockbuster’ and it doesn’t disappoint. With 5 star reviews in no fewer than 12 major newspapers (and already tipped for awards) Howard Davies wonderful revival of Arthur Millers’ classic american play is the must have ticket this Summer.
All My Sons is Arthur Miller’s 20th century classic play about social responsibility set against personal gain. When Joe Keller places prosperity of his family above the lives of others the consequences are painful and calamitous. Set over a single day in 1947, Joe Keller (David Suchet - Poriot, The Last Confession, Amadeus) is a proud father and successful business man who made his fortune during the Second World War. His wife Kate (Zoë Wannamaker - My Family, Electra, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone) refuses to give up hope of their youngest son, Larry, returning home, having been reported missing in action 3 years previous. The arrival of Larry’s childhood sweetheart Ann Deever (Jemima Rooper - Her Naked Skin) at the request of their eldest son Chris (Stephen Campbell Moore - The History Boys) threatens to expose a dark secret that will tear their lives apart.
This all star cast have never been better. David Suchet is mesmerising as the working man done good who has devoted his life and his morals to serving the betterment of his family situation. Zoe Wannamaker is fantastically manipulative yet wonderfully likable as his mourning wife Kate. Living in denial of what they have done, and of the fate of their younger son, both actors give performances that are sure to go down as two of the best in the history of the West End. Stephen Campbell-Moore and Jemima Rooper are up to just as high a standard in the supporting roles of their surviving son Chris and their missing sons childhood sweetheart Ann. It is a brilliantly crafted play (one which Miller took over two years to write and should it have failed, he would have given up writing and denied us other classic works such as Death of a Salesman, The Crucible and A View From A Bridge) that enthralls and thrills from start to finish.
The wonderfully warm yet slightly spooky effectiveness of William Dudleys’ set both evokes the quintessentially American and has a slightly foreboding feeling when coupled with beautifully subtle lighting (Mark Henderson) and haunting saxophone melodies (Dominic Muldowney).
It is not very often a theatre has a huge hit, but the Apollo has managed to follow the smash hit Jerusalem with another superb piece of theatre. This is not to be missed.
All My Sons By Arthur Miller at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 7ES
