All My Sons

Published Tuesday 16 January 2007 at 11:35 by Thom Dibdin

There is a seething sense of the inevitable about John Dove’s new production of All My Sons for the Royal Lyceum. With Stuart Milligan playing an avuncular and eminently huggable bear of a man as Joe Keller, Kathryn Howden in stunning form as a rather more worldly wise Kate and Richard Conlon swinging skillfully between coy romantic passion and the full-blown passion of his convictions, this is a fitting tribute to a great play, 60 years after its first production.

Surrounding this strong central trio the rest of the cast ensure that however small their roles may be, their characters are far from peripheral. In particular, Meg Fraser brings an angular sharpness and sense of utter contempt to the cynical Sue Bayliss. Her showdown with Shonagh Price’s Ann Deever is a stunning piece of theatre, played out with sheer brutality in the language of their confrontation.

Steven Cartwright succeeds in both integrating himself fully within the plot while standing outside it just enough to add a sense of perspective to its final twists, as Dr Jim Bayliss. The arrival of Robin Laing, pinch-faced and pacing, as George Deever is suitably catalytic. Paul Thomas Hickey is a creepy Frank Lubey, playing up on Kate’s hopes. Natalie Bennett is a suitably fecund Lydia, although more could be made of the imbalance of her situation with Ann’s.

The homely, verdant design by Michael Taylor, complete with real grass and shrubbery is subtly lit by Jeanine Davies. Adding to production’s strong sense of realism while helping frame its universal symbolism.