Review: All My Sons

The last quarter of the year is always a great time for theatre in London. As someone who goes to the theatre often but West End productions rarely, I had no hesitation taking the opportunity to see ‘All My Sons’ for its 2025 West End revival. 

The play, originally written by Arthur Miller in 1947, follows a family dealing with the loss of a family member as well as wartime secrets amongst them that become unveiled. With a cast that share many successful accolades between them, the expectations were very high. After watching Papaa Essiedu in Death of England: Delroy during its run at sohoplace in 2024, I was looking forward to seeing him on stage with an ensemble cast. Alongside well seasoned Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths) and Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), I knew that we were about to experience a very strong performance by everyone on stage. Aliyah Odoffin (Sleepova) also showed that she is just as strong on stage as she is on screen.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Papaa Essiedu | Credit Jan Versweyveld

Directed by Ivo Van Hove and set in the 1940’s, we are told the story of The Kellers - starting off with a storm that blew down the tree planted in memory of the family’s missing son, Larry. Discovering layers of deceit, lies and suppressed emotions, the audience are taken through a rollercoaster of emotions carefully nurtured by the talented actors that are on the stage in front of them.

As someone with attention issues, (which we can partially blame on the fact that I am a chronically online adult) I almost fell to my knees when I saw the play was 2h 15m with no interval. It is a great way to fix the attention span but it also made me feel like the story went on for a little longer than it needed to. That being said, the original play was written into 3 separate acts. With the structure of the play, it’s clear that the story was meant to be told in parts in order to digest each act's impact more.

With the heavy themes that are explored in the play, in tandem with the way that the play concluded, it’s evident that every cast member put all of their emotions on stage for us to consume through this piece of work. 

All My Sons plays at Wyndham’s Theatre until 7th March 2026.