{"id":197383,"date":"2026-02-28T01:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T01:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197383\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T01:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T01:47:08","slug":"review-jimmy-smits-wanda-de-jesus-power-a-gripping-all-my-sons-at-berkeley-rep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197383\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Jimmy Smits, Wanda De Jes\u00fas power a gripping \u2018All My Sons\u2019 at Berkeley Rep"},"content":{"rendered":"

The third act of \u201cAll My Sons\u201d is explosive. Actors Jimmy Smits and Wanda De J\u00e9sus (a married couple in real life as well as in the play) are firing on all cylinders. Actually De J\u00e9sus has been doing so throughout the entire play; her arrival toward the middle of an otherwise stilted first act is electrifying.<\/p>\n

Back in 1947, when Arthur Miller\u2019s play was first performed, two and a half hours, three acts and a few unnecessary characters were de rigueur.<\/p>\n

These days, for various reasons, audience expectations and perhaps tolerance levels have changed.<\/p>\n

In that problematic first act, Joe Keller (Smits, overacting a bit early on in the play) is chatting in his backyard with two neighbors (the aforementioned not-really-necessary characters) and a hyper-active neighborhood kid. An overnight rainstorm that knocked down a tree in the Keller yard has presaged the upcoming family storm that will change everything.<\/p>\n

\"\"Wanda De Jes\u00fas and MaYaa Boateng in Arthur Miller\u2019s All My Sons, performing at Berkeley Rep\u2019s Roda Theatre now through March 29. Kevin Berne\/Berkeley Repertory via Bay City News.<\/p>\n

When Keller\u2019s live-in son, Chris, appears (Alejandro Hernandez, who grows quite convincingly into his important role as the play continues), we learn a lot about the family\u2019s circumstances: how the other Keller son, Larry, died in the war; how Joe\u2019s wife, Kate (De J\u00e9sus), refuses to believe he\u2019s dead; how Chris now wants to marry Larry\u2019s fianc\u00e9e, Ann (Mayaa Boateng); how Joe, who owns a company that manufactures airplane parts, was arrested and jailed for having shipped defective parts overseas, resulting in the death of several dozen men; how he was later exonerated; how his business partner \u2014 Ann\u2019s father \u2014 was left behind in prison.<\/p>\n

The details of these tragedies are hashed and re-hashed over the course of the play, with new information and understanding (among the characters and for us, the audience) emerging bit by bit right up to the climactic, emotionally devastating finale. (An especially effective performance by Brandon Gill as Ann\u2019s brother enriches the plot.)<\/p>\n

Messages that transcend tragedy<\/p>\n

Miller was examining big moral issues through the details of the tragedy that tears apart the Keller family: What is the price to be paid for striving toward the American dream? (Joe Keller\u2019s eyes have always been fixated on the economic prize for his family). To whom in this world are we responsible? What do we owe our community, our country? By the time the play ends, we feel the pain of just about every character, including the doctor who lives next door (played by Cassidy Brown) and his bitter wife, Sue (Elissa Beth Stebbins in a nuanced portrait).<\/p>\n

As too-talky as the play is, and how slow to dig into its own depths, \u201cAll My Sons\u201d is nevertheless deeply involving, and this Berkeley Repertory Theatre production, directed by Berkeley Rep associate artistic director David Mendiz\u00e1bal, goes the distance. Mendiz\u00e1bal cast Black and Latino actors in order to expand the issues involved and explore the characters\u2019 place in American society from a new perspective (Miller was careful to avoid any references to his characters\u2019 ethnicities), but the truth is, the issues in the play are strong enough to overshadow that directorial effort.<\/p>\n

\"\"(L-R) Brandon Gill, Alejandro Hernandez, and Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winner Jimmy Smits in Arthur Miller\u2019s All My Sons, performing at Berkeley Rep\u2019s Roda Theatre. Kevin Berne\/Berkeley Repertory via Bay City News.<\/p>\n

And designer Anna Luizos\u2019s set \u2014 the exterior of a wood frame house, complete with screened-in porch, patio, yard full of trees, flowers and plants, wicker rocking chair and more \u2014 fits the dimensions of the stage so perfectly that you\u2019re likely to feel yourself within the action, no matter your perspective.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s in observing the various characters\u2019 reactions to their deepening understandings, especially acutely observed in the conflict between father Joe (it\u2019s in those scenes that Smits shines) and son Chris, that the play truly lives. There, and in every moment of De J\u00e9sus\u2019s heartbreaking performance.<\/p>\n

Berkeley Repertory Theatre\u2019s \u201cAll My Sons\u201d continues through March 29 at the Roda Theatre, 2025 Addison\u202fSt., Berkeley. Tickets are $67 to $215 at berkeleyrep.org<\/a>.\u202f<\/p>\n

The post Review: Jimmy Smits, Wanda De Jes\u00fas power a gripping \u2018All My Sons\u2019 at Berkeley Rep<\/a> appeared first on Local News Matters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The third act of \u201cAll My Sons\u201d is explosive. Actors Jimmy Smits and Wanda De J\u00e9sus (a married…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-197383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}