Dennis theater: 'All My Sons' explores impact of an agonizing decision on generations

Name of play: “All My Sons”

Written by: Arthur Miller; directed by Nina Schuessler; performed by Eventide Theater Company.

What it’s about: During World War II, middle-aged family man and business owner Joe Keller knowingly orders a shipment of defective aircraft engine parts shipped overseas from his munitions factory, and his decision causes the tragic deaths of American combat pilots. He places the blame on his business partner, who goes to jail while Joe is exonerated.

Joe, who falsely maintains his innocence, later claims he initiated the fatal shipment in order to ensure that his business and family would prosper ― but it is his actions that ultimately tear the family apart. His business goals tragically conflict with moral obligations owed to the larger society, and ensuing events unleash a tangle of domestic conflicts and irrevocable acts that lead to the drama’s devastating final events.

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“All My Sons” explores classic themes of guilt, betrayal, grief, denial and the consequences of leaving one’s mistakes unexplored until it’s too late to set things right.

See it or not: A talented cast of 10 keeps the audience riveted to the action on stage as, little by little, the tension grows, and long-held secrets and betrayals are exposed. The play is threaded together with superlative performances by the central Keller family (Nicholas Dorr as Joe, Janet Geist Moore as his wife, Kate, and Mike Devine as son Chris), and we’re there to witness the events that unfold. Each cast member adds another layer of significance, small at first, building the story to its tragic denouement.

Highlights: Director Nina Schuessler expertly welds Miller’s taut narrative into a shocking and emotionally fraught drama, spotlighting its crucial scenes: Kate, as she begins to unravel; Joe as, astoundingly, he places his own defects onto his partner’s head ― “The man has never learned to take the blame” ― and the showdown between Chris and his father during the show’s climactic moments.

Interesting fact(s): “All My Sons,” Miller’s first commercially successful play, ran on Broadway for 328 performances, from 1947-49. In the very first year when Tony Awards were given out, the play won accolades for Best Author (later to become “Best Play”) and Best Direction. It also won the esteemed New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award. Later, Miller’s critical take on the “American Dream” as depicted in many of his dramas, caused him to be called before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the anti-Communist fever of the 1950s.

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Worth noting: “All My Sons” is notable for a major character who never appears on stage: Joe and Kate’s son Larry, brother of Chris, a World War II pilot who has long been missing in action. His presence looms large throughout the play, often influencing the course of action, as the players each attempt to come to terms with his death.

One more thing: In the years since it was first staged, the drama has lost none of its impact. The tragedies that ensue from the characters’ words and actions depict powerful, common themes that still resonate.

If you go:  Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 19. Gertrude Lawrence Stage at Dennis Union Church, 713 Main St., Dennis. $32. Box office: (508) 233-2148; more information at www.eventidearts.org.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Dennis theater: Tickets, dates, for Arthur Miller's play 'All My Sons'