Well, it was the press night of All My Sons on Friday night and I think I have only just about recovered enough to write this. Quite simply it was phenomenal. There were standing ovations, audible gasps and many a person leaving (or not being able to leave) the auditorium with damp hankies and red eyes. The atmosphere in the bar afterwards, despite the tears, was electric.The production is wonderful and the cast are astonishing. I am so, so proud to work here and you MUST see this show....
"This is brilliantly paced, meticulous piece of work, which manages to ratchet up the tension, and allows the characters room to grieve... Thacker’s production is as unfussy and uncluttered as it needs to be, and still feels dense and weighty... some of the finest playing I can recall on the Octagon stage... a wonderful revision of a classic text, and a must-see production. 5 stars" WHAT'S ON STAGE Read more here...
"Although I’ve seen the Octagon in-the-round before, the playing area has never felt so close and immediate…. George Irving returns to the Octagon after his blinding performance in Shining City two years ago. He remains faithful to Miller’s description of Joe Keller as “stolid”, but although superficially impassive and unemotional, below the surface there fizzes a James Cagney-esque nervous energy which eventually explodes to shattering effect.
Margot Leicester, who was so brilliant as the grieving mother in A Conversation at the Royal Exchange, gives a wonderful performance here" UK THEATRE NET Read more here...
"An excellent cast is headed by George Irving... Margot Leicester... She gives a beautifully layered performance... Miller’s powerful work still has resonance today, as does his condemnation of those who make deceitful profit from war." THE STAGE Read more here...
"The Octagon has a deserved reputation for quality productions of works by renowned American playwright Arthur Miller…. This was further reinforced by the excellent casting headed by M.E.N. Theatre Award nominee, George Irving. Thacker has cast the excellent Margot Leicester, in the role of a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown. It's a beautifully judged performance." MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS. Read more here...
"The play manages that rare trick — to transport you away from the theatre, to make you unaware of the person sitting next to you, and to wrap you up so tightly in the characters’ world that you forget these are actors on a stage. It is a bold, gutsy, terribly moving play that left me sobbing.
David Thacker has certainly wasted no time in putting his stamp on the Octagon, and if everything else in the coming season is as good as this, then long may he reign." THE BOLTON NEWS. Read more here...
"With a classic production of one of the best plays of the twentieth century, a superlative cast, under the deft touch of an expert director the Octagon have unquestionably got a first-rate hit on their hands...A high quality production that excels in every way, Arthur Miller would have been proud." GEORGEIRVING.COM Read more here...
"George Irving's hugelyimpressive performance as Joe takes a massive journey from the charismatic, jokey, loving family man preparing for retirement but ready to step in and solve family disputes calmly and rationally when they arise, to a prowling silverback gorilla in the last act, ready to attack in order to defend. Margot Leicester's performance as Kate is equally great, portraying her as a perfectly rational woman but with some unshakeable and not entirely rational beliefs.
Oscar Pearce as Chris goes from the happy, rather naive but wholly positive son of a local hero to a completely broken, devastated young man in a totally believable and heartbreakingly emotional performance. Vanessa Kirby gives a remarkably assured and mature performance as Ann in her professional stage debut, and Mark Letheren judges the character of George, who appears to believe whatever the last person with a strong opinion told him with great emotional intensity, just right.
Although some productions of Miller seem to show him to be dated and long-winded, Thacker has shown that with the right hand on the helm he can still be as powerful, emotionally-charged and relevant as he ever was." BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE Read more here...
"Thacker is back – with a bang... As the father who may, or may not, have sold defective engines to the air force George Irving gives another towering performance... As his wife, Margot Leicester harbours all the composed mania of a grieving mother... Irving and Leicester are also to appear in Ghosts... this one shouts to be seen and heard first." LANCASHIRE EVENING POST Read more here...
"David Thacker, the Octagon's newly appointed artistic director, had the distinction of being Arthur Miller's favoured British interpreter...Thacker's subtle direction takes a neutral, non-interventionist approach, yet the overall message seems clear - 4 stars" THE GUARDIAN Read more here...
"in Thacker’s production of All My Sons you are engulfed from the outset in this powerful story. Making it easy to get lost in the comfortable allure of this play which makes the eventual climax even more exiting. Transitioning from the calm to the intense and engaging there is nothing clichéd about David Thacker’s razor sharp direction. This combined with Millers rich theatrical dialogue lures you in and grips you like an old fashioned thriller. Make it your business to see this show. It is In the Round theatre at its very best, an elegant, powerful and flawless piece of drama." THE PUBLIC REVIEWS Read more here...
"The play is an American nightmare of love, greed, death and culpability in which Thacker's own use of metaphor would be less effective if his staging weren't so brilliant. The production could scarcely be more gripping, the emotional energy between these flawed people could hardly fizz more resonantly or the cracks in their veneer shatter with more tragic inevitability." THE INDEPENDENT. Read more here...
"So, as the pattern and texture of guilt weave through Thacker’s revival, it stands a fit companion for another classic drama of moral responsibility emerging from the past, Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen, which comes next in an Octagon autumn likely to be seriously filled with guilty pleasures." REVIEWSGATE Read more here...
Would love to hear what you thought of the show. Why not post a comment below?
