All My Sons
Politically relevant play appears on stage
Ariel Carmona
Issue date: 5/1/06 Section: A & E
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The action of the play centers on the events which transpire between an idyllic Sunday morning in a Midwestern town in the U.S.A. and shortly after two o'clock the following day in Aug. 1947. Miller's post-World War II drama still resonates with the power of his prose, perhaps even more so today.
One of the main themes of the play deals with the moral choices made by Joe Keller, who headed a business which made aero engine parts. Based on Greek and Shakespearean tragedies, Joe is an everyman whose flaws are spotlighted when he committs a crime by welding over defective cylinder heads leading to the deaths of 21 pilots. After both Joe and his manager Steve are arrested for the crime, Joe appeals but Steve can't escape inprisonment. Keller's remainig son, Chris, wants to marry Ann, and this leads to a lot of the conflict in the plot when Chris tries to find out what really transpired in Joe's factory.
"I picked this play because it deals with the price that war takes on American families," said the director Ralph Eastman. "The spirit is in the land," he said. Eastman also mentioned other recent regional productions of Miller's first theatrical Broadway success have been well received including a notable revival of the classic play at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood.
"Arthur Miller was interested in the power of Greek tragedies and what happens to people who are pushed to extremes. The Greeks existed within a fated environment. You get a real sense of fathers killing sons and sons being honor bound and duty bound."
This is a good example of mid-century American realism taught in our acting classes. I got an older fellow in the community to play the lead role, but the rest are all our students," Eastman said.
Meanwhile the actors surrounding him sat around eating Chinese food, reading and preparing, while an impressive set of the Keller house, complete with a functional screen door awaited their run through.
One of the actors, 18-year-old Landon Scott, a second semester student who has been performing since he was 14 years old provided a glimpse into his desire to act. "I like the ability to escape reality and to be whoever or whatever, to live vicariously through the roles I play," said Scott who added he loves interacting with people and to a greater degree, playing people of another era, "It's pure magic."
Scott emphasized the process of becoming a different person from another period is different for each individual actor and takes a lot of research. "I watch a lot of movies from the same period of time the character lives in, that is how I do it." Scott said he practices and rehearses up to nine hours a week to prepare for a role.
"All My Sons" will be Scott's first production at Mt. SAC and in comparison to theater classes in High School. He also said he found working with a new director and with new people a challenge in itself.
Maria Rodriguez, a 20-year old second year thespian is playing the role of Ann Deever, the former fiancee of Keller's son, Larry, who dies while on a combat mission. Rodriguez is a veteran actress at Mt. SAC, having already participated in three other productions including "The Tempest," "Under Milkwood" and "Harvey." In a break from the first run through, Rodriguez said, "I like to gauge the vibe that's coming from the audience. I haven't done drama of this sort, it will be nice to see how the audience reacts to it."
Rodriguez shed some light on her approach to playing a person from different era, "For me people are always people, I just looked at the different restrictions women had back them and compared them to today and I tried to keep those in mind. My character (Anne) is a very strong woman. She's not like a revolutionary, and I didn't want to make her the strong woman that today's society would want her to be," the actress said.
Showtimes for the play are Friday May 5, and Saturday May 6 at 8 p.m. and Sunday May 7, at 2 p.m. and Friday May 12 and Saturday May 13 at 2 p.m and 8 p.m. Admission is $12 and $9 for students and seniors.