Read Through

Last night was our first read-through.

I fell asleep, but that's no reflection on my cast. I got only about three hours of sleep the night before. Once I had my microscopic nap, I was fine, and had several "goose-bumps" moments during the reading.

During the READING.

This is going to be a heck of a show!

It's a play about a war profiteer, by Arthur Miller. It's also about the American family. I swear that Joe Keller is a relative of Willie Loman, the salesman in "Death of a Salesman."

Joe is a businessman. He is clever in the ways of business, and makes his sacrifices with his eyes open. Chris, his son, raised in comfort and plenty, has ideals. Kate, Joe's wife, has her own demons, and when Chris decides he wants to marry Ann...well. The excrement hits the oscillator.

During the war, Joe and his partner, Steve ran a plant that manufactured airplane engines. Some parts came out with cracks. The military was screaming for them--yesterday, if not sooner, and the partners made the decision to patch them up and send them out.

The parts caused the engines to fail, killing pilots. There was a trial, and Joe's partner is still in jail. Joe was home sick the day the parts were shipped out, so he avoided the consequences.

Ann is Steve's daughter, and had originally been engaged to Larry, Chris's older brother. Larry was a pilot who did not come back from the war.

You can imagine the rest.