Review: ALL MY SONS at Texas State University's Patti Strickel Harrison Theatre

Arthur Miller’s play ALL MY SONS is built on things people would rather not talk about: secrets sit beneath ordinary conversations, guilt hides behind comfortable prosperity, and a seemingly respectable family slowly discovers that the past is not nearly as finished with them as they would like to believe. Texas State University’s School of Theatre, Dance & Film gives Miller’s drama a polished and thoughtful production under the direction of Charles Ney, one that allows the tension to build gradually while reminding us just how contemporary Miller’s questions about money, responsibility, and personal ethics remain.

The production is immediately impressive visually. Scenic designer Cheri Prough DeVol creates the gorgeous two-story Keller home set back into the proscenium, opening onto a porch, lawn furniture, and a broad expanse of grass and trees extending across the apron. Tall, manicured poplars frame the space, period-appropriate iron lawn furniture completes the yard, and through an old screen door we can glimpse a 1940s kitchen stocked with appropriate appliances and details. Even the debris left by the storm that precedes the play becomes part of the storytelling. Kate Gonzalez’s lighting design complements the set beautifully, particularly the illumination of the upstairs windows, while Allie Hildebran’s costumes establish the period convincingly. Ann’s dresses are especially lovely, and Sue Bayliss’s carefully styled hair could practically have stepped out of a period advertisement.

Xavier Dvorak’s sound design is another strong element of the production. The preshow music is exceptionally well chosen, creating the world before anyone speaks a line, with selections including Chuck Berry’s “Linda,” The Three Suns’ “Peg O’ My Heart,” Eddy Howard’s “I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder,” and Louis Jordan’s “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens.” The surround-sound effects throughout the production are effective and immersive without generally drawing attention away from the action. The airplane and storm effects occasionally feel a bit louder than necessary, but overall the soundscape is carefully integrated into the production and contributes significantly to the atmosphere.

Miller’s characters are considerably older than the university students playing them, and that creates one of the unavoidable challenges of this production. Drew Dunson’s Joe Keller does not always visually convince as the family patriarch, but there is something charming in the fatherly mannerisms and advice he brings to the role. Danica Feig faces a similar challenge as Kate Keller, yet handles Miller’s exceptionally dry humor very well and finds the uneasiness beneath it. Natoz Walker’s Dr. Jim Bayliss is particularly funny when exasperated, while Nathan Bachtell leans successfully into Frank Lubey’s eccentricity and period-specific confidence. Arianna Pierce as Sue Bayliss and Stori Silva as Lydia Lubey round out the neighborhood, with Silva growing more comfortably into Lydia as the play progresses.

The younger central characters fare particularly well. Miguel Gaytan gives a convincing performance as Chris Keller, balancing affection for his parents with the growing realization that the moral world he thought he understood may not exist. Kylie Hill brings an appealing lightness to Ann Deever, and her understated amusement as Chris awkwardly professes his love is especially effective. Faraz Mobli gives George Deever an intensity that immediately changes the temperature of the stage when he arrives. And Brima Conteh is delightful as Bert, making the most of their relatively brief appearances and proving themself as an enthusiastic scene-stealer.

Ney’s direction also allows Miller’s language to reveal how much has, and sometimes has not, changed. Joe’s casual comment about Ann’s legs lands with an uncomfortable thud for a contemporary audience, exposing the everyday misogyny embedded in the period. Other lines resonate in very different ways. Kate’s observation that “everything decides to happen all at once” becomes almost a warning about what is coming, while the declaration that “we all got hit by the same lightning” reaches toward the larger moral question at the heart of the play: how far does responsibility extend beyond ourselves and our own families? That question gives ALL MY SONS much of its continuing power.

This is, importantly, a university production, and there are moments when the youth of the actors remains visible beneath the mannerisms, makeup, costumes, and vocal choices required to portray people decades older than themselves. Yet the production holds its own. The audience remains engaged as the Keller family’s comfortable world steadily unravels, supported by strong design work and a committed ensemble. More than seventy-five years after Miller wrote it, the story also feels unsettlingly relevant in a culture where enormous financial pressures can still tempt people to rationalize unethical choices and where the consequences of those choices rarely stop with the person who made them. Texas State’s ALL MY SONS offers a polished, accessible production of a difficult American classic and gives its student artists an ambitious story worth wrestling with.

ALL MY SONS

By Arthur Miller 

Theater Company: Texas State University’s School of Theatre, Dance, and Film

Venue: TSU Patti Strickel Harrison Theatre, 405 Moon St, San Marcos, TX 78666

Sept. 29–Oct. 3 , 2026 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 4 at 2 p.m.

Running Time: 2-½ hours, one 15-minute intermission

Tickets: $22

Reader Reviews

To post a comment, you must register and login.