Theater Review: 'All My Sons' at Hartford Stage

Review by Nancy Sasso Janis

Hartford Stage Artistic Director Melia Bensusen has brought Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” to the stage as part of the theater’s 60th anniversary season. Bensussen directs the truly brilliant Marsha Mason and Michael Gaston, as well as a strong supporting cast, as they bring Miller’s “extraordinary” work to life.

Arthur Miller wrote the play “All My Sons” in 1946 in a final attempt to pen a commercially successful work, after his first play “The Man Who Had All the Luck” had failed miserably on Broadway. Bensussen notes that this work “feels as relevant to our world today…filled with questions about our moral responsibility towards each other, and the need to balance our immediate family’s needs with the community around us.”

In the program, the director adds “All My Sons” points us towards contemplating what we owe each other as a community, and as citizens of this world–and perhaps simply asking these questions of ourselves, and each other, is the key.”

Miller’s script is based upon an article that appeared in an Ohio newspaper. The story exposed an Ohio aeronautical factory that had conspired with army inspectors to approve defective engine parts during the second World War. The Keller family and their neighbors deal with the fallout of the scandal that results in this play with a strong, emotional ending.

Mason’s performance as matriarch Kate Keller is flawless. The four-time Academy Award nominee returns to Hartford Stage after codirecting and starring in the 2022 production of Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers.” The actress was also the associate director for the 2019 Broadway production of “All My Sons.”

In his Hartford Stage debut, Michael Gaston matches his leading lady in the depth of his performance as Kate’s husband Joe. The multi-credited actor almost steals just about every scene in which he appears with his extremely strong portrayal of the patriarch.

In the role of the Keller’s son Chris is Equity actor Ben Katz, who gives a performance that rises to the level of the veteran actors who play his parents.

Ann Deever, the girlfriend of the couple’s missing son, is brought to life by Fiona Robberson, who earned her MFA from The Juilliard School. Reece Dos Santos portrays her brother George in later scenes.

Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr., the Artistic Director of HartBeat Ensemble, plays the Keller’s neighbor Dr. Jim Bayliss and Yadira Correa portrays his wife Sue

Dan Whelton returns to Hartford Stage to play the supporting role of neighbor Frank Lubey, with Connecticut Critics Circle Award Winner Caitlin Zoz as his wife Lydia. Malachy Glanovsky, a fourth grade student and the only actor who is not an Equity member, appears as a neighborhood boy named Bert.

Annmarie Kelly is the understudy for Kate Keller and Sue Bayliss, Hero Marguerite understudies Ann Deever and Lydia Lubey and Nick Roesler (an adjunct professor at Central Connecticut State University) is the understudy for Dr. Jim Mayliss, George Deever, Chris Keller and Frank Lubey.

The scenic design by Riv Rakkulchon brings the audience to a backyard on the outskirts of a town in America in 1946, complete with an upscale home. An-lin Dauber has designed costumes that elicit the era, complemented with wig, hair and makeup design by J. Jared Janas. There is some lovely original music and sound design by Lucas Clopton.

While this story is ultimately tear-jerking, there is a fair amount of comedy to balance the emotional elements of this play.

The Hartford Stage production of Miller’s classic work is well-produced and definitely packs a punch. The three-act play is presented with one intermission. I encourage you to head to Hartford to see “All My Sons” before it takes its final bow on May 5th. Tickets at Hartfordstage.org/all-my-sons.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theater reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, and she posts well over 100 reviews each year. She became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle in 2016. Her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted in the Naugatuck Patch as well as the Patch sites closest to the venue. She is also a feature writer and theater reviewer for the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column IN THE WINGS and theater reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the newspaper.
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