'All My Sons' at The Apollo Theatre

Last night we went to see 'All My Sons' at the Apollo Theatre, right beside 'Hair' on Shaftesbury Avenue. It stars the excellent Zoe Wanamaker and David Suchet as a couple who've been married for 30-odd years and have two grown up sons, one of whom has died on active duty during the Second World War. The play takes place in the garden of their nice suburban house on one sunny afternoon and later the same evening as family and neighbours stroll through and their world slowly spirals out of their control and the family falls apart.

The play is by Arthur Miller, someone I'm not very familiar with other than his play, 'The Crucible'. 'The Crucible' is a powerful claustrophobic monotone but this play has so much light and shade that you don't know what's coming next. The depiction of family life - and family life under stress - was very believable, seeing the honesty between the older couple when they were alone change into them playing matriarch and patriarch when the younger people appeared, still treating them as children.

Zoe Wanamaker and David Suchet were both excellent, showing their class and craft, so much more believable and effortless than the younger cast members. They made me believe they were the couple, but the others were acting, striking a pose or projecting voices. Both Zoe and David are best known for their TV work (and that was probably reflected in the make up of the audience) but they can also act the socks off most people, and certainly everyone else on the stage. I last saw Zoe in 'Much Ado About Nothing' when the stage seemed to visibly lighten every time she set foot on it and she was on top form last night as well.

I won't detail the twists and turns of the plot but I enjoyed the play and would recommend it to anyone. It's a class act and a very well constructed play - go and see the experts do it in the form of Zoe and David and, of course, Arthur.