keeping abreast of ignorance with Open Space
Posted on 16th May 2025
Given Arthur Miller’s impressive body of work and the reputation it earned him, it’s easy to forget that All My Sons was effectively the last roll of the dice after a string of undistinguished attempts had culminated in the humiliating closure of his play about, ironically, a lucky man after only four performances. Shocking that, had this one not been a success, he’d have packed in writing altogether.
This isn’t the first Miller play Open Space Theatre has tackled, and it was fascinating to note that his preoccupation with plaster saints, moral ambivalence and narrative ambiguity was already evident in such an early work. Frank Boyd was excellent as Joe Keller, a classic Miller character that required a nuanced performance which elicited first sympathy, then empathy, but ultimately disgust. His relationship with his son Chris, playing with charm and authenticity by Mike Davison, lies at the heart of the drama, notwithstanding the misdirect of missing Larry, but – as so often with Miller – not in way we are led to expect. Initially it’s Yves Green’s Kate that demands our attention, divorced from reality and highly strung, Green takes the character to the edge of hysteria, soliloquising denial through what we assume is grief, but which is equally tainted by guilt. In sharp constant, Emma Martin’s breezy, naturalistic Ann Deever provides much needed respite from the increasingly fractious atmosphere of a family in torment, only exacerbated by a haunting performance by Bruce Alcorn as her brother.
The supporting cast do their best with neighbourly interference – Ranulph Bacon is particularly affecting – but talk of horoscopes and medical research is more distracting than illuminating, and the fever pitch of the play’s resolution is perhaps a tad overwrought for modern audiences. These, however, are quibbles with the text, not the performance, which only served to continue Open Space Theatre’s run of consistently solid productions of classic works.