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If it’s not quite up there with the reckless gamble taken by Joe Keller, the patriarch protagonist of ‘All My Sons’, it’s still bold of Open Air Theatre artistic director Timothy Sheader to revive this Arthur Miller classic just a few years after the towering West End version starring David Suchet and Zoë Wanamaker. Not only that, but across town at the Young Vic is surely one of the all-time greatest productions of another Miller tragedy, ‘A View from the Bridge’.
By these lofty standards, Sheader’s production is a no-frills, straight-down-the-line affair. And keeping it simple isn’t a terrible idea. ‘All My Sons’ takes place over a single night, as factory owner Joe’s secrets unravel after son Chris announces he’s to marry Ann, former sweetheart to his dead brother Larry, daughter to Joe’s former business partner Steve, jailed for selling cracked cylinder heads to the US Air Force. The simple effect of darkness descending upon the Open Air Theatre as the action become more oppressive is palpable, powerful stuff.
But all in all it just doesn’t hit as hard as Miller should. Sheader’s cast, led by Tom Mannion’s affable Joe, Charles Aitken’s goody two-shoes Chris and Amy Nuttall’s bubbly Ann, emphasise the gee-whizz all-American side to their characters – in line with the cheesy ’50s backdrop of Lizzie Clachan’s neatly symbolic set.
Which is nice, but it doesn’t really move into gear until Andy McKeane’s George arrives – his weird, conflicted performance as Ann’s brother is a welcome disruption to a hitherto sedate production. As night swallows the stage and the Kellers are torn asunder, the cast bite into their roles with more spleen and vigour. But the family-next-door regularness of the performances persists, and it never quite takes on that Greek roar that you get with Miller at his most devastating.