Tennessee Rep Opens 27th Season With ALL MY SONS

Tennessee Repertory Theatre kicks-off its 27th season of live, professional theatre with Arthur Miller's classic All My Sons. All My Sons runs tonight through October 15 at TPAC's Johnson Theater 

Winner of the Drama Critics' Award for Best New Play in 1947 and multiple Tony Award-winner, All My Sons established Arthur Miller as a leading voice in the American theatre. All My Sons introduced themes that thread through Miller's work as a whole: the relationships between fathers and sons and the conflict between business and personal ethics.

In this classic American drama, Joe Keller and Steve Deever-partners in a machine shop during World War II-turned out defective airplane parts, causing the deaths of many men. Deever was sent to prison while Keller escaped punishment and went on to make a lot of money. In a work of tremendous power, a love affair between Keller's son and Deever's daughter, the bitterness of George Deever who returns from the war to find his father in prison and his father's partner free, and the reaction of a son to his father's guilt escalate toward a climax of electrifying intensity.

"This show has been on my dying-to-do list for a long time," says Tennessee Rep Producing Artistic Director René D. Copeland. "The time seems right because the subject of this intense family drama is more relevant than ever, as we struggle harder than ever as a society to figure out what the parameters of personal responsibility are. We are split politically over ideas related to the goals of the individual vs. the good of the community: are we only beholden to our own interests, connected to no one but whoever is in our own back yard, or are we part of a larger web of responsibility? If we do something that is good for ourselves, but other people we don't even know may suffer as a result, where does the moral compass fall? When heads of corporations place the highest priority on their personal bottom line, if employees are left without pensions or healthcare or even jobs, is that okay? After all, they're just pursuing our American definition of success--make as much money as possible, and by the way, don't be shy about it. This play, through the story of the Keller family, explores with gut-wrenching results questions of personal responsibility and integrity and the interconnectivity of all of us. I think this play will stir your heart and your thinking, and I look forward to the conversations it will ignite."

The production stars Chip Arnold as Joe Keller. Arnold was recently voted Best Local Actor in The Tennessean's "Toast of Music City" Awards for his portrayal of Atticus Finch in Tennessee Rep's production of To Kill a Mockingbird.

"When I started out as an actor I didn't give much thought to the concept of ever having a ‘full circle' experience years down the road in my professional life," says Arnold. "But now it has happened in a way I never expected. One of the first roles I was given as a professional was that of Chris Keller. Now decades later I've been given the opportunity to play the role of Joe Keller, the father of Chris. The son has a level of naïve idealism that is refreshing. The father has the raw and weathered instincts of a man shaped by the cruel realities of human nature. I identify with both men, then and now. Joe Keller is Everyman. The cheating path can be an attractive one and easy to take in the right circumstances. Who of us has not been tempted to take that path? Who of us has not stepped over onto that path? Being fully human is what makes us able to identify with Joe Keller even while we abhor some of the choices he made. What a tribute it is for me to play such a classic character in one of America's great plays written by one of the twentieth century's greatest playwrights."

In addition to Arnold, the cast features Holly Allen, Ruth Cordell, Nate Eppler, Isaiah Frank, Eric D. Pasto-Crosby, Emily Landham, Marin Miller, Peter Vann, and Patrick Waller.

Since 1985, Tennessee Repertory Theatre has been a critically acclaimed regional theatre, creating the highest quality professional productions and by serving as a prime cultural, educational, and economic resource within the Nashville and Middle Tennessee communities. Tennessee Rep produces work that is designed, built, and rehearsed in Nashville by highly skilled actors, designers, directors, and technicians. A non-profit organization, Tennessee Rep is committed to consistently delivering smart, enriching, compelling theatre each year. For more information on the Tennessee Repertory Theatre, please visit www.tennesseerep.org.

 

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