The Show That Needs No Luck

Jonathan Hamel's direction of The Man who Had all The Luck, combined with exceptional acting, makes this production a standout at the Loeb Mainstage this season. This presentation is the American premiere of one of Arthur Miller's earlier plays, now in revised form. In 1989, Miller reworked the original script into a fable about success in life.

Polished acting, subtle direction, dramatic lighting, a fantastic set and--most of all--Miller's revised script, combine to make the show a triumph.

All the Luck chronicles the rise of David Beeves (Tom Hopkins), a hard-working but undistinguished mechanic who achieves remarkable success as a result of events which he considers as a result of events which he considers merely lucky. For instance, David managers to sell an extra drum of kerosene as a result of a late cold spell.

David's luck persists when the father of his fiancee, who has vowed to prevent their marriage, is conveniently killed. Later, when he has trouble fixing a car for his potential boss, an experienced mechanic helps him repair it.

From there, things only get better for David. However, his brother Amos (Todd Kessler), whom his father has trained for success in baseball all his life, cannot seem to break into the major leagues.

David feels guilty for his success because he thinks it depends on luck. He lives in constant fear that his luck will run out. Throughout the play, Hopkins subtly portrays David's insecurity. For example, when Gus Eberson (Theodore Caplow) mysteriously appears and helps David fix his car, he looks beaten. We see his humility when he says, "Will you show me what to do?"

Later, when the other characters are musing on the nature of luck, Hopkins cries out in frustration, "Everything I touch turns to gold! What is it about me?" Even when David achieves success, his lack of confidence cripples him.

The other characters exacerbate David's dilemma. Jonathan Fisher convincingly plays an alcoholic who wants to prevent David from repeating his mistakes. C. Michael Rodriguez is both wryly funny and poignant (without overdoing it) in his role as the fatalistic, wheelchair-ridden cynic. Both Fisher and Rodriguez torment David by making him believe that his successes can all be attributed to luck.

Gus, however, urges David to accept his good fortune as the result of hard work. Caplow's superb performance is clouded only by his struggling effort at an foreign accent.

The characters utilize a magnificent set designed by Peter Rosenbaum. The wooden barn, complete with a rickety fan and potbelly stove, is larger than life--just as the audience would expect in a Miller play. Likewise, the Jaguar that David repairs is gorgeous.

But the stroke of genius appears in the second act, after David has become enormously successful. Rosenbaum makes David's house a skeletal frame through which the audience can see the dilapidated barn. Superimposing the skeletal house on the barn prevents the audience from forgetting David's humble origins, just as David himself cannot.

The direction of All the Luck is conventional, but that quality makes production strong. The characters react realistically to the implausible chain of events, which makes the audience take Miller's theme seriously.

In contrast, Christopher Scully's lighting design emphasizes the bizarre chain of events with abrupt changes in the focus and the amount of light. The realistic acting and surrealistic off-set each other and give the play the mystical quality of a fable.

The American premiere of an Arthur Miller play does not come to Harvard every weekend. Even if the production were not nearly flawless, The Man Who Had All the Luck would still be a must-see.