All My Sons' Opens Oct. 13

Arthur Miller's play "All My Sons," directed by guest artist Jeffrey Ingman, opens in Wallman Hall Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 13.

The production is sponsored by the Masquers theatre organization in the Fairmont State University School of Fine Arts. Performances will run Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 13-15 and 20-22, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 16 at 2 p.m. For tickets, call the Box Office at (304) 367-4300. A sign language interpreter will be present at the Oct. 21 show for the hearing impaired.

"All My Sons" was Miller's first major success as a playwright. It treats the theme of man's responsibility to his fellow man and family loyalty. Miller said that in all his plays and books he tried to take settings and dramatic situations from life that involved real questions of right and wrong. In "All My Sons", Miller took events from the Truman Commission, which was empowered to look into the matter of war profiteering and defective airplane parts during World War II. The drama illustrates the direct and indirect costs of profiteering.

The issue of shoddy outfitting of U.S. troops remains relevant in today's world. "All My Sons", which premiered in 1947, still moves its audiences and resonates with contemporary events.

The cast for this production of "All My Sons" includes John O'Connor (Joe Keller), Lydia Mong (Kate Keller), Michael Gallimore (Chris Keller), Sarah Rowan (Ann Deever), Daniel Crowley (George Deever), John Fallon (Dr. Jim Bayless), Amanda Carrico (Sue Bayless), Gene Hicks (Frank Lubey) and Sarah Grumblatt (Lydia Lubey).

Jeffrey Ingman, who was the Fairmont State Artist-in-Residence in the spring 2005 semester, returns to direct "All My Sons" and will also direct the upcoming March production of "The Country Wife". Ingman has an impressive list of acting and directing credits, which includes the spring performances of "Everyman" and "Dulcitius", "The Music Man", "Crazy for You", "Sondheim Review", "A Lion in Winter", "Fool for Macbeth"  and "Private Lives", among many others. He was also the Entertainment Manager and Co-Director of the Medals Ceremony at the Salt Lake Olympic and Para-Olympic Winter Games in 2002.