A View from the Bridge - Review (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

A View from the Bridge - Review

3:53pm Wednesday 13th May 2009

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A View from the Bridge, Duke of Yorks Theatre

Arthur Miller is a towering figure of twentieth century drama. His Pulitzer Prize-winning Death of a Salesman put him on the map and other notable successes including The Crucible, The Price and All My Sons have cemented his reputation as one of America's most renowned playwright.

But the late-dramatist also had his doubters - one criticism often levelled at his work is that it can veer towards moralising and Miller's plays certainly suffer in comparison to the best work of his compatriots Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neill.

However, A View from the Bridge is one of Miller's finest efforts and one that even the author's harshest critic would surely find some kind words for - particularly if they experienced Lindsay Posner's fine revival, that is on its way to Richmond Theatre in late May.

In writing A View from the Bridge Miller attempted a modern take on Greek tragedy - Eddie Carbone, played here by Ken Stott, is a humble stevedore eeking out a spartan but happy life in Red Hook, Brooklyn, with his wife, Beatrice, and niece, Catherine. He agrees to take in Beatrice's illegal immigrant cousins and the play quickly begins on its tragic and unstoppable trajectory.

As Catherine embarks on a relationship with one of the illegal immmigrants, Stott plots the growth of the passion which drives and eventually overwhelms Eddie with a mesmerising force.

Where the play moves away from the Greek blueprint is in the way it presents the tragedy of a common man - Eddie is no king but his fall is as mighty as Oedipus' and Stott imbues him with all the necessary humanity and confusion, so that when narrator Alfieri, admits he admires Eddie "more than all my sensibile clients" you are moved to agree with him.

Alan Corduner does a good job in the tricky role of Alfieri and the acting is uniformly excellent. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, as Beatrice, is superb as the matriach desperately trying to hold her family together and Harry Lloyd brings enough of a hard edge to Rodolpho to suggest Eddie's fears about his intentions for Catherine may not be entirely fanciful.

At times the production is perhaps a little heavy handed in spelling out Eddie's motivation and the design is less than perfect with the Carbone's tenement building overwhelming the stage. Nevertheless this a production that should do much to argue the case for an underrated play.

Will Gore

A View from the Bridge is at Richmond Theatre from May 26-30. See richmondtheatre.net for more information.

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