All My Sons - Review

Wyndham's Theatre, London

*****

Written by Arthur Miller

Directed by Ivo Van Hove

Tom Glynn-Carney and Bryan Cranston

Arthur Miller’s All My Sons is given an astonishing and devastating reworking at the Wyndham’s Theatre under Ivo Van Hove’s direction. Written in 1946, with the USA still under the shadow of the Second World War, the play is a forensic critique of greed and amorality in the American war machine. More than that however, it is an equally brilliant analysis of grief, denial, love and betrayal with Miller using but the slightest of phrases and descriptions to paint a richly detailed canvas of one tiny slice of the country’s Midwest.

In a story that was inspired by real events, Van Hove casts Bryan Cranston as Joe Keller whose engineering company supplied a batch of fatally flawed engines to the US Air Force that resulted in the deaths of 21 pilots. Cranston is colossal in his portrayal of a man prepared to sacrifice friendship and, unwittingly, family on the altar of the American Dream in his corrupt pursuit of personal fortune. His Keller is credible and deeply, darkly human, holding a mirror to us all.

Miller’s genius extends beyond his flawed protagonist. The story’s supporting characters offer a complex web of relationships and interactions, delivered in this production by a stunning company. Marianne Jean-Baptiste is Keller’s knowing yet grieving wife Kate, who breaks our hearts as she faces the challenges that Miller throws at her. Jean-Baptiste’s performance matches Cranston for its nuanced sensitivity and downright brilliance. Paapa Essiedu as Keller’s son Chris together with Tom Glynn-Carney and Hayley Squires as troubled siblings George and Ann pick up the lion’s share of the younger generation’s roles, with all three actors delivering excellence as the hellish tale unfolds.

Van Hove’s direction is precise. The play’s action unfolds in the Kellers’ yard where a tree has portentously fallen over in a storm the night before. As a chainsaw is taken to the fallen timber and the sawdust flies, the smell of the petrol engine’s exhaust filling the auditorium adds a curious and unexpected sensation of authenticity to the on-stage action.

Written in three acts, Van Hove chooses to dispense with any interval break at all, leading to a 2hr10 marathon of intense drama – that actually works incredibly well. The perfectly aligned combination of Miller’s prose delivered by a gifted company leads to an evening of tragically blistering perfection.

Runs until 7th March 2026

Photo credit: Jan Versweyveld