A View From The Bridge

‘A View From The Bridge’ written by Arthur Miller is a drama based in Brooklyn, USA in the 1950’s. The plays narrative tells the story of an American family consisting of a girl, Catherine, who lives with her Aunt and Uncle, Beatrice and Eddie. The show progresses to have two cousins of Beatrice, Marco and Rodolpho, who come to stay. They entered the the country to work, making them illegal immigrants. Initially the two males staying, caused no problem. However cracks start to appear when a relationship starts to form between Catherine and Rodolpho. This then forms the main focus to which everything else happens around. The play is narrated by the family’s lawyer, who gives an unbiased viewpoint on the happenings and provides a ‘bridge’ between the two different cultures. The play manages to entangle many thought provoking themes and shows characters that are torn between emotions. The plot is quite complex and leaves the audience wondering what will happen next, the outcome is not easily foreseen.

Blackburn Drama Club chose this play as their second in the 2016/2017 season. It is a perfect play to join the others they have chosen, as it brings something totally different to the stage, especially as it follows the situational comedy. This play enabled the society to showcase their talents in staging and acting, as they managed to create a truly sophisticated and classy piece of theatre.     

When we entered the auditorium we were greeted with a very well designed set, which had some very effective lighting design. The bridge obviously drew focus with the rippling light effect of water behind it. As well as a raised rostrum to stage left, which we would later know to be the family’s home. We also had a desk to stage right forming the lawyers office. These different areas of the stage were well emphasised by light when forming the main playing area. The light was very well focused leaving the rest of the stage very dull, adding to the atmosphere of the production. 

The opening scene of the play provided the audience with very artistic and stylised visuals. This managed to set the tone for the rest of the play. We were also introduced to our first characters with the lawyer, who set the scene perfectly, then we met the family members. This first scene of the family, when Catherine wished to leave education and get a job, gave us a real glimpse into the family dynamics. With Eddie trying to be the ‘alfa male’ figure and lay down the law, but then realising Catherine is her own person and is really free to do what she wants. These conflicting feelings reoccurred a number of times during the play, with Eddie being torn between his heart and his mind. Being unsure which mindset he should allow to prevail. The intensity of these feelings developed greatly throughout the show. These mixed emotions could easily be read by the audience, due to the superb quality of action from all on stage. All the characters delivered lines with well rehearsed accents and displayed suitable personas to match their characters roles. 

Throughout the play there were many scenes which managed to express high emotions. The scene where Eddie argued with Rodolpho and told him to leave his house were very dramatic. In addition to this scene where Eddie rang to the immigration office to report the illegal immigrants. This managed to capture the real essence of Eddie’s two minds, as well as the distress that was caused for the family when the officers came round. The direction of this scene with Marcus even spitting at Eddie intensified these emotions to the maximum.   

On the odd occasion some lines were said very quickly, meaning concentration from the audience was paramount. This can sometimes cause the audience to lose interest, purely because they get fatigued. This

said as only some sections of the production were very quick, it worked well and helped to keep the show interesting, It did not drag on, which can easily happen with such strong dark themes. 

As previously mentioned the plot was quite complex and the ending could not easily be predicted, as nothing was given away. The direction also helped with the mystery and this followed through to the final scene, with the audience unsure who the victim of the fight would actually be. This murder scene was well staged and the use of actual blood, which soaked through the shirt helped to make this scene seem more realistic and ensured it was as hard hitting as possible.  

Even though the play was written and reworked in the 1950’s, the play felt very modern and current, thanks to the direction and superb staging. This could easily have been monotonous and boring to watch, due to the heaviness of the themes. But thanks to the excellent quality of acting from this rather large cast the play was anything but. The production was a very grown up, classy and sophisticated piece of theatre, that was a pleasure to watch. We would like to congratulate the cast and production team on what they have managed to achieve and we look forward to seeing the society’s next show in 2017. 

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