"All My Sons"

Erica and I visisted Playmakers Repertory in Chapel Hill on Friday to see "All My Sons," the third of the four productions included in the ticket package I received as a birthday gift from my father last April.

As has consistently been the case during each of our visits to Playmakers, the actors were fantastic. Many of them have appeared in all of the shows we've attended yet they manage to retain the authenticity of their respective roles each time. These are clearly very talented people.

During our previous show - two separate installments of Charles Dickens' (very long) "Nicholas Nickelby" - we marveled at one actress who, when she wasn't shuffling between multiple demanding roles on stage, also provided musical accompaniment on various instruments.

Whereas "Nicholas Nickelby" took a rather circuitous route to its alternately grisly and uplifting conclusion, "All My Sons" charged more directly to the point, reaching its forceful resolution in a relatively tidy two hours time.

Clearly Miller, who also penned "Death of a Salesman," wasn't one for subtlety as the the story illustrated the perils of greed and the related consequences that result when one measures his value in profits rather than integrity. Miller shows that though ideals may sometimes perish in relative isolation the effects of their loss extend well beyond the man himself.

My favorite line from "All My Sons" also served as something of a theme for the production: "Every man does have a star. The star of one's honesty. And you spend your life groping for it, but once it's out, it never lights again."