Jonathan Messana (left) and Bill Knolla as father and son in a scene from Arthur Miller's “All My Sons”.
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A tribute to Arthur Miller at Schoolhouse Arts Center
In tribute to renowned Pulitzer Prize winner, Arthur Miller, the Schoolhouse Arts Center presents his powerful drama “All my Sons,” Tom Scannell directs this special Schoolhouse production about an ordinary Midwestern businessman and his family, in time of war.
Jonathan Messana (left) and Bill Knolla as father and son in a scene from Arthur Miller's “All My Sons”.
The play opens in 1947, in the aftermath of World War II. “All my Sons” focuses on Joe Keller, who has spent his life creating prosperity for his beloved family. But Joe has made a terrible decision. The play focuses on the rippling emotional impact of that one business decision on his family and friends. Miller based this story on actual events during World War II, when an arms manufacturer was found guilty of using defective parts for tanks.
Don't miss this rare staging of Miller's early work. Director Tom Scannell of Steep Falls is a longtime drama teacher at Schoolhouse and has directed many past shows. In this production, the role of Joe Keller is played by Bill Knolla of Denmark and his wife, Kate by Pat Bradshaw of Bridgton. Their son Chris Keller is played by Jonathan Messana of Portland. Ann Deever, a young neighbor who was engaged to Larry Keller, is played by Caryn Blanchard of Steep Falls; her brother George is played by Joshua Hurd of Alfred. Neighbors Frank and Lydia Lubey are played respectively by Andrew Goodwin of South Portland, and Amanda Fickett of Portland; Sue Bayliss is played by Sharon Bearor of Gorham.
Performances are at the Schoolhouse Arts Center, Rte. 114 in Sebago Lake Village, April 15 - May 1, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.& Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Prices are $12 students/seniors, $14 adults. Tickets are available by calling 642-3743.
Arthur Miller, one of the giants of modern American theater, died February 10 of this year. Author of the classics “Death of a Salesman” and “The Crucible,” Miller was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, the Tony Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in his lifetime, among many others. His work was deeply American, often dealing with the struggles and dissatisfaction of middle class American life, and revealing a fierce social conscience. He was a consistently courageous and moral voice, In 1953 he came out with the “Crucible” which used the Salem witch trials and the terrible momentum of mob fear to examine and expose the immorality of McCarthyism. Often an outspoken critic of government policies, he advocated strongly for civil rights and artistic freedom. In 1956 he was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities; where he was convicted of contempt of Congress for not cooperating, though in 1958 the US Court of Appeals overturns his contempt conviction. Ironically, this brilliant writer and political activist is known by many only for his short and rocky marriage to Marilyn Monroe. He said, in 2003 that “as a Jew of a certain generation I was unable to forget the silence of the 1930s and 1940s, when fascism began it's destruction of our people, which for so long met with the indifference of the world.” In our current climate of war and fear, Miller's unflinching eye and moral courage will be deeply missed, and issues he raises in his work still resonate.
Goodbye and thank you, Arthur Miller, for bringing truth to light. You will be missed.