Review- All My Sons- Hong Kong Arts Festival
16-3-17
It's already the second time this year that Arthur Miller graces Hong Kong with his great plays and this year The Rose Theatre has brought All My Sons before local audiences.
As I take my seat in the audience, my eyes immediately catch the importance of the set; the whole play takes place in the Kellers' courtyard, an excellent metaphor for the characters traits of seeming not to see much beyond its confinement.
Joe Keller is a man who, in the eyes of the community, has it all: he's a successful self-made businessman, well respected and loved by his family. His wife Kate refuses to accept the fact that their son Larry might have died in the world and she firmly believes that one day he will be back, even though their other son Chris thinks the opposite. He wants to propose to Ann Deever who used to be Larry's sweetheart and whom he kept close contact with over the last few years. Kate sees Chris' actions as betrayal. When Ann arrives at the house of the Kellers, she reveals that her father, Joe's former business partner, is in jail because, during World War II, Joe willingly supplied the American Air Force with faulty engines, sending many pilots to their death. The blame for his actions is shifted to Ann's father while Joe is pardoned.
Was a faulty engine the cause of Larry going missing? Or his death?
The first act ends on the positive note that Chris proposes to Ann and she accepts; however, what didn't work in my opinion was the very weird staging between the two actors which made them look like they were playing musical chairs rather than moving with actual purpose. Because of the random movements, I felt the whole chemistry was dropped between them. I also thought that having two benches right in front of the audience was a choice that limited the actors' movement, together with the public's view. At times all I saw was the actors' backs or other performers standing behind them.
Despite the set being effective, the design left much of the backstage visible; the audience could see every time an actor or a crew member crossed over the stage, distracting from the onstage action.
The second part of the show starts off in a more intense manner. Although happy for his engagement, Chris avoids telling his mother about the news and things go even more downhill once Ann's brother, George, arrives at the Kellers' mansion to dissuade his sister from her decision, arguing that Chris' father Joe has destroyed the Deevers. More elements of the story unravel bringing the whole situation to a head where the uncomfortable truth is to be known and acknowledged. Chris confronts his father and goes missing. In the meantime, Ann makes Kate face reality with a letter written by her son Larry before he committed suicide. Joe meets the same fate as his son, agreeing to go to jail, only to enter the house to shoot himself.
Micheal Brandon's portrayal of Joe Keller was compelling and believable. Jessica Turner and Gemma Lawrence also delivered fine performances. However, I struggled to believe in Paul Woodson as Chris Keller. His pace was often off (perhaps something to do with the accent) and his physicality seemed unnatural.
All My Sons is a powerful play, underpinned by actual events and incredibly relevant nowadays. The more I watched the character of Joe Keller unravelling, the more I couldn't help but think how much his character reminded me of Donald Trump: someone who enjoys his status, his power and his position, who thinks his actions cannot and will not affect others.
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