A View from the Bridge

Thank you, thank you Arden Theatre, for jolting my memory…I was in New York in the winter of 1998 and I caught a production of ‘A view from the bridge’ my mind went back to that performance near on 30 years ago, it left a vivid memory for me. Travelling to Faversham on Saturday these thoughts came flooding back, I was going to see a powerful piece of theatre by Arthur Miller. Des Crilley (Director) I’m glad you keep memories of this powerful play with you from a young age, it has served you well. Your direction of this ‘A view from the Bridge’ was superlative, your cast did you proud, they were flawless, as was your direction. I liked the way you used the whole theatre, a workable set by Martin Kelly gave us a sense of a Brooklyn dwelling. The Brooklyn sounds and lighting (Mick Benell) were mood setting .Costumns were of period (Sue Gower) and a nice informative programme.

Christopher Collins gave us a perfect Alfieri, a very broad Brooklyn accent was required and his acting and accent were uppermost in his role. Matthew Platt as Eddie: what a part for any actor of Matthew’s calibre - he owned that stage, giving us an excellent piece of stagecraft, superb Matthew!! Catherine (Francesca Woods) had the right amount of vulnerabilty for Catherine and along with Beatrice (Theresa Burns) as the down trodden mother Beartrice - these two ladies ran the gauntlet of emotions, beautifully played by both and easily held their own against the indestructible Eddie. Marco (Rohan Kumta) and Rodolpho (Benjamin Jones) the Sicilian imigrants, were portrayed convincingly by these two young actors. Everyone in this cast, which included,Des Crilley, Linda Kelly, Joseph Cosgrove, Christopher McGowen and Kathy Ashford as supporting actors, gave this ‘A view from the Bridge’ a very professional approach. 

Arden Theatre and Des Crilley you gave your audience an unmissable piece of theatre. Thank you.

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