All My Sons

Act One

It is late summer in 1947. Joe and Kate Keller have welcomed their former neighbor’s daughter, Ann, for a sudden visit. The play begins the morning after a strong thunderstorm which has destroyed an apple tree in the yard - a tree that was planted as a memorial to Larry Keller, the eldest son who disappeared in battle. The Kellers’ neighbor Frank stops by, assuring Kate that he has almost figured out their Larry’s horoscope. Kate is determined for proof that Larry could not have died in war, and is still alive and will return home, even though two years have passed since he went missing. Joe disapproves of this encouragement, as does their surviving son Chris. A neighbor boy, Bert, shows up, asking to see the “jail” in the Keller’s basement; Joe has made him a neighborhood police officer, tasked with reporting crimes. Before Kate goes inside, she scolds Joe about trivializing jail.

Chris confides in Joe that he wants to marry Ann, and that she feels the same way. The men are