This and that – All My Sons. A Review.

Greetings!

“The audience sat in silence before the unwinding of “All My Sons” and gasped when they should have, and I tasted that power which is reserved, I imagine, for playwrights, which is to know that by one’s invention, a mass of strangers has been publicly transfixed.” These were Arthur Miller’s words concerning the audience’s reaction to his classic play, which won Tony Awards for Best Author and Best Direction of a Play in 1947.

The Sunday Matinee audience at yesterday’s Center Stage production of the play was equally transfixed. They too laughed, gasped, and cried at all the right moments. As the proverbial curtain fell at the end of the play, the resounding applause that followed, along with the audience’s instant standing ovation, should have thrilled the actors, who took their stage bows with tears in their eyes.

The play, based on a true story about World War II Army inspection officers who allowed defective, wartime aircraft engines to be used for military purposes, takes a critical stab at the American Dream, which lies at the heart of ‘All My Sons.’ It raises profound questions about the moral choices wrapped around that dream. Does doing something wrong for your family—a family you love, you’ve sacrificed for—justify the wrong by claiming you did it for them? Go see the show and decide for yourself.

My sincere congratulations to the cast, crew, and the director of “All My Sons” for their dedication and hard work. And thank you too for a fantastic set! You can purchase tickets at https://centerstagebiloxi.org/. (One last observation, please do old, backrow geezers like me a favor…speak up. Or maybe I need to get a hearing aid. )

Big hug, y’all!