The British theatre’s long love affair with Arthur Miller continues. This week sees the start of previews for Ivo van Hove’s production of Miller’s first Broadway hit, All My Sons, which has had half a dozen major revivals over the past five decades. Indeed, you could argue that Miller is more honoured here than at home. On his death it was said in the Times Literary Supplement: “He was mourned in England as a revered contemporary, in America as a figure from a bygone age.”
Why this division? One answer, supplied by All My Sons, is that Miller analysed the American psyche while being steeped in European tradition. It is difficult to discuss this particular play without giving away the plot. It is, however, an open secret that it hinges on the unproven accusation that Joe Keller, as a wartime manufacturer of aircraft engines, allowed faulty cylinder heads to be dispatched to the air force knowing they could endanger life.
