{"id":57343,"date":"2026-04-15T13:22:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/?p=57343"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:22:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:22:47","slug":"all-my-sons-national-theatre-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2026\/04\/all-my-sons-national-theatre-live\/","title":{"rendered":"Cineplex Events: All My Sons<\/em> (National Theatre Live)"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are few modern innovations as inspiring as National Theatre Live. Broadcasting high profile stage productions into movie theatres is an astounding arts accessibility measure that knocks hoity toity work right off its pedestal and brings it to actual audiences regardless of their location or disposable income (see also: PBS Great Performances<\/em>; irreplaceable). It’s downright revolutionary. Everyone should see everything programmed in the Cineplex Events series because theatre is for everyone and National Theatre Live is one of the rare institutions that both proves and facilitates that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, that doesn’t guarantee that every National Theatre Live show is fantastic. You should see them all anyway (because genuinely why not; it costs $5 more than a regular movie, $5 LESS than an IMAX) but not all pieces deemed worthy of a pro-shot are totally deserving. They tend to feature celebrities or be only the most high profile shows, which any real theatre-goer will tell you isn’t the most reliable recipe for success. But the hit rate does tend to be better in London than, say, New York when it comes to the deployment of high profile people. The National Theatre is fairly reliable if not perfect.<\/p>\n

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But you know who is pretty much completely reliable? Arthur Miller. I have never in my life been let down by an Arthur Miller play. Even a mediocre production of one is still a damn good play. And this is not a mediocre production. Ivo van Hove is the leading director of Miller work in his generation, having helmed previous hits The Crucible<\/em> and A View From the Bridge<\/em>. While his modern, barebones approach isn’t necessarily my aesthetic of choice, I really appreciate not only his re-popularizing these midcentury classics but the fact that he seems to really love the plays, getting out of their way and letting the text talk.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The production of All My Sons<\/em> that’s hitting Cineplex Events this week is a perfect example of setting the company loose on a great text and just letting Miller Miller. A sparse stage with a looming moon\/window and a massive downed tree is all there is to the straightforward design, paired with simple ageless costumes and atmospheric but unobtrusive lighting. The cast is a generally strong mixed bag with standout performances from supporting players Hayley Squires (a sturdy and considerate Annie) and Tom Glynn-Carney, whose tweaky take on my favourite character George is packed with palpable anger masking bitter heartbreak. The accent work from the mostly British cast is hit or miss (the play is set in the midwest and leading man Bryan Cranston’s got an advantage there) and the effort comes out as a whine in the case of Paapa Essiedu’s essential Chris. But Marianne Jean-Baptiste is splendid as mother Kate, the picture of defiant denial keeping the truth away with a whip, a chair, and a homemaker grin, and Cranston acquits himself well with thoughtfully calloused charm though he overplays the final scene a bit. That may have been a directorial choice, though, because that too-much feeling is matched by the play’s ending note.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While imperfect, because all theatre is, this production of an all-time-great text is a privilege to see in any form and, for those of us not lucky enough to have been able to see it in London, its presence at Cineplex is a real gift.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are few modern innovations as inspiring as National Theatre Live. Broadcasting high profile stage productions into movie theatres is an astounding arts accessibility measure that knocks hoity toity work right off its pedestal and brings it to actual audiences regardless of their location or disposable income (see also: PBS Great Performances; irreplaceable). It’s downright […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57344,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Cineplex Events: All My Sons (National Theatre Live)","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[344,2259],"tags":[2485,4,1298,944,6],"coauthors":[1858],"class_list":["post-57343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cinema","category-featured","tag-cineplex","tag-contemporary-theatre","tag-national-theatre","tag-national-theatre-live","tag-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ntl_2026_all_my_sons_production_photography_credit_jan_versweyveld_8-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25441,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2014\/04\/lear-nt-live\/","url_meta":{"origin":57343,"position":0},"title":"Lear Lets Invention Thrive: A NT Live Broadcast","author":"David Devant","date":"29 April 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Disclaimer:\u00a0If you are a Shakespeare nerd, skip the article,\u00a0drop that dinner date\u00a0on Thursday\u00a0and pick up a ticket to National Theatre Live\u2019s broadcast of King Lear at the Cineplex nearest you. Might love it, might hate it, but I\u2019m confident (having seen it on stage myself) that you\u2019ll be glad you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theatre"","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/King-Lear-kelly.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/King-Lear-kelly.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/King-Lear-kelly.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/King-Lear-kelly.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8116,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2011\/09\/company-at-the-cineplex\/","url_meta":{"origin":57343,"position":1},"title":"Company at the Cineplex","author":"Kelly Bedard","date":"12 September 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Company, is a masterpiece in Sondheim's body of work. The simple story is so nuanced and steeped in human reality that it is actually one of the composer's most complex works. So when the NY Philharmonic announced that they'd be assembling an all-star cast to take on all the \"Sorry\/Grateful\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theatre"","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/company_nyphil-570-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36690,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2017\/02\/john\/","url_meta":{"origin":57343,"position":2},"title":"Critical Consensus & Company Theatre\u2019s John","author":"Kelly Bedard","date":"12 February 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This is not a review. The Company Theatre\u2019s production of John- a dense, complex, hilarious personal epic by celebrated playwright Annie Baker- is extraordinary on a hundred different levels and every single person who has seen it (or certainly written about it) has said pretty much the same thing. I\u2019m\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theatre"","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Nancy-Beatty-Philip-Riccio-and-Nora-McLellan-in-JOHN-photo-by-Dahlia-Katz.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Nancy-Beatty-Philip-Riccio-and-Nora-McLellan-in-JOHN-photo-by-Dahlia-Katz.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Nancy-Beatty-Philip-Riccio-and-Nora-McLellan-in-JOHN-photo-by-Dahlia-Katz.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Nancy-Beatty-Philip-Riccio-and-Nora-McLellan-in-JOHN-photo-by-Dahlia-Katz.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":32038,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2016\/01\/2015-theatre-noms-london\/","url_meta":{"origin":57343,"position":3},"title":"The 2015 MyTheatre Award Nominees: London","author":"Oliver Simmonds","date":"01 January 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Started in May 2015, London is MyTheatre's youngest branch. We have only six months and sixty-three reviews under our belt yet, even without a full year to cover, there's been so much going on in London since May that we had plenty to choose from when it came time to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theatre"","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Theatre-Half-2015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Theatre-Half-2015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Theatre-Half-2015.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Theatre-Half-2015.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23181,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2014\/01\/theatre-nominees-2013-toronto\/","url_meta":{"origin":57343,"position":4},"title":"The 2013 My Theatre Award Nominees: Toronto","author":"Kelly Bedard","date":"02 January 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"For the first time ever, we've divided our annual My Theatre Awards into three parts. Each division (Boston, New York, and Toronto) now has their own set of nominations and their own set of winners. In the case of Boston and Toronto, they also have their own Awards Ceremony to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theatre"","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/13-My-Theatre1-e1388610541849.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/13-My-Theatre1-e1388610541849.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/13-My-Theatre1-e1388610541849.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/13-My-Theatre1-e1388610541849.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42705,"url":"https:\/\/www.myentertainmentworld.ca\/2018\/05\/chariots-grand\/","url_meta":{"origin":57343,"position":5},"title":"Out of Town Report: Chariots of Fire at London\u2019s Grand Theatre","author":"Kelly Bedard","date":"11 May 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"For about a year now, I\u2019ve been receiving press releases from the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario. 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