“All My Sons” Explores Dark Side of Capitalism and Family—at Berkeley Rep

Brandon Gill, Wanda De Jesús, Alejandro Hernandez, and MaYaa Boateng. Photos by Kevin Berne

Arthur Miller Probes Money vs. Morality in Superb Post-War Shocker

by Emily S. Mendel

No drama could meet the moment more than this transcendent, heart-wrenching 1947 Tony Award-winning play about two business partners and their intertwined families in which an innocent partner bears the brunt of the greed and cowardice of the other. By the end of the drama, no one is left unscathed by the single act of avarice and materialism that, in esteemed playwright Arthur Miller’s hands, becomes a symbol of the evils of 20th-century capitalism in America.

The outstanding actors in “All My Sons” include famous marquee names, Jimmy Smits (NYPD Blue, The West Wing) and Wanda De Jesús, husband and wife in real life. Smits plays affable, self-educated business owner Joe Keller. With Joe’s partner and former next-door neighbor, he built a successful company that supplied airplane parts for World War Two aircraft. Joe’s wife is the troubled Kate (Wanda De Jesús).

Wanda De Jesús and Jimmy Smits

A crucial character in “All My Sons” is Larry Keller, who never appears on stage but is at the heart of the Keller family’s action and psychodynamics. A WWII fighter pilot, Larry was lost overseas three years ago, but his mother Kate will not accept his death and move forward. We don’t understand her fierce conviction that her son is still alive. But her need becomes clear at the end of the single, very long day in which the action of this two-hour and thirty-five-minute play occurs.

With the end of the war, Joe wants to continue focusing on growing his business and leave it to his remaining son, Chris (excellent Alejandro Hernandez). Perhaps because Joe was a child of the Depression and grew up poor, he is consumed by the need for success and his desire to deliver generational wealth to his family.

MaYaa Boateng and Alejandro Hernandez

But Chris has invited his brother’s former girlfriend, Ann Deever (MaYaa Boateng), to the Keller home. He’s working up the nerve to tell his parents that he is in love with Ann and they plan to get married. Into this cauldron comes Ann’s brother, George Deever (Brandon Gill), with disturbing news about his and Ann’s imprisoned father, who is Joe’s former partner. Actors MaYaa Boateng and Brandon Gill excel in their difficult roles as the sister and brother who have conflicting feelings about the Kellers and their own father.

Although not a word of “All My Sons” has been changed since it was originally written, the use of a multi-racial cast instead of an all-white cast, adds a brilliant new dimension to the taut drama. With the Puerto Rican Keller family and the Black Deevers, one can infer a layering of simmering racial tension to the already pressure-filled production.

MaYaa Boateng and Brandon Gill

Director David Mendizábal enhances his excellent production of “All My Sons” by keeping the drama tense, without turning it into melodrama. The entire cast of New York and Bay Area actors, including Cassidy Brown, Elissa Beth Stebbins, Regina Morones, and Brady Morales-Woolery, delivers powerful, first-class performances.

Toward the end of the play, Joe Keller, in an intense moment of conscience and guilt, admits that all soldiers matter as much as his son, that “They are all my sons.” The playwright’s message about the pain and damage caused by thinking only of oneself and one’s immediate family rather than working for society’s greater good is still tragically relevant today.

Osiezhe Gboligi-John Gregory Bramah, Alejandro Hernandez, and Golden Globe & Emmy Award-winner Jimmy Smits. Photos by Kevin Berne

“All My Sons” by Arthur Miller, directed by David Mendizábal, set design by Anna Louizos, lighting by Russell H. Champa, costumes by Toni-Leslie James, at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley. California.

 Info: berkeleyrep.org - to March 29, 2026.

 Cast:  Jimmy Smits, Wanda De Jesús, Cassidy Brown, Brady Morales-Woolery, Elissa Beth Stebbins, Regina Morones, Alejandro Hernandez, Osiezhe Gboligi, MaYaa Boateng, and Brandon Gill.

©Emily S. Mendel 2026   All Rights Reserved