All My Sons at Wyndham’s Theatre
The Arthur Miller American classic All My Sons made its West End return to Wyndham’s Theatre on Friday, and what a return it was. Originally performed in 1947 and lauded as one of Miller’s most enduring plays, this production by Ivo Van Hove proves that the central questions raised by the 20th-century show have long-lasting resonance. With a tremendous cast headed up by Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston as the Keller family patriarch Joe, and Bafta nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste as his wife Kate, this production is a moving, highly absorbing portrait of a family and a country in crisis.
The play opens on a stormy scene in which a tree is felled by inclement weather, an event that sets the tone for all that is to come as it is revealed that the fallen tree was “Larry’s”, planted in honour of the Keller’s eldest son, who never returned from WWII. Remaining at the centre of the stage for the entirety of the play, its largeness magnified by the simplicity of the minimalist set (designed by Jan Versweyveld), the slain tree is the perfect symbol of the permanent nature of the Keller family’s brokenness. It serves as a perpetual reminder of not only the ghost of Larry, but also the ghosts of the war, which will have unexpected and far-reaching consequences for the Kellers and beyond.
In its focus on a “typical” American family, All My Sons manages to make a tragedy out of the familiar. While the time period in which it is set may not be personally familiar to most of today’s audiences, the central questions that the play asks about familial ties, social responsibility, and the pursuit of financial success at all costs remain more relevant than ever. Ivo Van Hove’s production tears open the lives and hearts of each of its characters with aplomb in order to examine the faulty parts of human nature and the repercussions of our choices at both the personal and political levels.
Despite this play’s emphasis on personal faults, there is not a flaw to be found in the performances from its cast. Cranston is jovial and lovable as Joe before slipping seamlessly into desperation and wretchedness; Jean-Baptiste’s Kate is the perfect blend of power and fragility, a well of both maternal empathy and self-serving slyness. Paapa Essiedu is impeccable as the Keller family’s youngest son Chris, bringing a boyish charm and innocence to the character at the start of the play and a heartbreaking rage at the end. Hayley Squires becomes Ann Deevers, Larry’s former girlfriend turned Chris’s fiancé and the daughter of Joe’s disgraced former business partner Steve – it is difficult to imagine her as an actress, so fully does she commit to the role.
Running straight through the three-act show with no interval means audiences will find themselves fully immersed in this version of All My Sons. Following the unravelling of two families and the unravelling of the American dream, it is impossible for this production not to spark reflection on one’s own period in time and one’s own responsibilities/culpabilities within that place in time.
Madison Sotos
Photos: Jan Versweyveld
All My Sons is at Wyndham’s Theatre from 21st November 2025 until 7th March 2026. For further information or to book, visit the theatre’s website here.
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