There is difficulty in every word in “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller.
Characters move through the backyard with long faces, lamenting all aspects of post-World War II life. Even with the laughs and smiles the story of Joe and Kate Keller passes, a respite from the journey to the most depressing reality.
Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s new production of the iconic drama, starring television and film stars Wanda De Jesús and Jimmy Smits and given the masterful direction of David Mendizábal, is a marvel. The stakes are raised as members of a devastated Puerto Rican family in Ohio live through the fallout from bad choices. Miller’s 1947 play, which was a scathing critique of the American Dream and its capitalist underpinnings, still feels so rich and present that it’s hard to imagine that the play will soon arrive for your 80th birthday.
The beginning of the game finds Joe (Smits) in his backyard, where he usually finds solace. But overnight, a tree planted in honor of her missing son Larry was split in half by strong winds. Could this be some kind of harbinger? Or is Larry, missing for three years, talking about something somewhere? For Joe’s wife Kate (De Jesús), any sign, no matter how small, that her son is still alive is very welcome.
What drives the plot is how the characters get into each other’s lives. Keller’s neighbors Jim Bayliss (Cassidy Brown) and Jim’s wife Sue (Elissa Beth Stebbins) now own the home of Joe’s business partner, whose daughter Ann Deever (MaYaa Boateng) was engaged to Larry. Keller’s ideal son Chris (Alejandro Hernandez) is now planning to marry Ann, although Kate still insists that Larry’s absence may be temporary.
It doesn’t help that neighbor Frank (Brady Morales-Woolery) supports theories that rely on Larry being alive. The release of any theory, for Kate, is cruel. In De Jesús’s proven hands, he is a powder keg; her piercing moan driven by the lost child in her gut.
Joe presents as a kind and warm person, who will stop at nothing to protect his family, a very worthy goal. But what makes him a monster is his attempts to hide his role in the scandal of the job – he deliberately sent parts of the plane with military defects, which caused the death of 21 pilots.
Mendizábal’s direction throughout is full of commanding touches, each development given to the character as a matter of life or death; just be aware of all the cruel decisions Smits and De Jesús are forced to consider as Joe and Kate. Both actors exist in a different stratosphere offstage, television and film are their common media. But on stage, the duo never let their star power overwhelm their characters.
Smits is authoritative as Joe, a man who works tirelessly to protect his family. Eventually, the walls will cloud her secret, namely when Ann’s brother George (Brandon Gill) wants to answer to the entire Keller family for how they destroyed his family.
These are some of the most powerful scenes of the game. Gill is a whirlwind of rage, surprisingly suppressing George’s instincts for decorum.
The destruction of discovery, in one of the most remarkable moments of the play, when Chris reminds Joe of his worst mistakes as a father, guided by the false hopes of an unattainable American Dream. “Dad is dad!” it’s loud Joe who’s drowned; The connection between Hernandez and Smits is divine. What father would allow such damage, assuring his fellow patriarchs that their lives without sons would be ruined forever?
This production critically examines the canonical fine play through a brown lens, an interesting artistic vision expressed with new thrills as the American dream is investigated (using “La Despedida” by Daniel Santos as the final single of the program in its entirety).
In one of the show’s best artistic choices, a glowing red light metaphorically draws attention to focus on the central wall. It is not easily visible or solid, but clearly there, it seems to represent an anti-aircraft light. Perhaps a light in the dark ether, something to guide each lost driver home to eternal peace.
David John Chávez is the former chairman of the American Theater Critics / Journalists Association, a 2020 fellow of the O’Neill National Critics Institute, and a two-time judge for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2022-23). @davidjchavez.bsky.social
‘ALL MY SONS’
By Arthur Miller, presented by Berkeley Repertory Theatre
With: March 29
Working time: 2 hours, 30 minutes with a break
Where: Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley
Tickets: $25-$135; berkeleyrep.org
