We went to the theatre last night and saw 'All my Sons' by Arthur Miller. It was set just after the war and was about an American couple who had two sons, one of which returned from the war and the other who was missing in action, presumed dead. The mother played by Zoe Wanamaker still thought her son was alive and wouldn't hear any talk about him being dead, even though the war had finished around 3-4 years ago. The other son was busy falling in love with a girl who used to live next door and was the girl-friend of his missing brother.
The father was played by David Suchet and he was a business owner and his partner (father of the girlfriend) was in prison due to a scandal over some faulty airplane parts during the war that had caused the death of 21 pilots.
As the play went on the plot unravelled (better not read any further if you don't want this spoilt!) and it became apparent that the father may have been the one guilty of the faulty parts but had lied in court to get off and blame the other guy. It all kicked off with a dramatic row when the girl-friends brother arrived with lots of accusations.
It was terribly sad, the girl-friend finally revealed that she had a letter from the lost son which he'd written to her the day before he died. It revealed that he was going to commit suicide in his plane as he was so ashamed when he heard the scandal about his father and the court case. Of course this devastated his father who was indeed guilty and he ended by going off into the house and shooting himself. It was shocking but so moving. At the end the mother was on stage alone just calling her husband's name. Throughout the play she'd been grieving for her son and then at the end that was joined by grief for her husband. I was crying at the end - it was so sad. It's the one and only time I've EVER cried at a play. I really enjoyed it but it was such a sad story I wanted to step into it and re-write the story and the endings.
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