Skip to main content

Review of A View from the Bridge at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Although writer Arthur Miller died 15 years ago, and last published a play almost 30, he remains a force to be reckoned with, and you are probably still never far from production of one of his works, albeit one of probably just four from his back catalogue of 33 plays. If you pressed someone to choose his best, they would probably more often than not say The Crucible, because A: they studied it, or B: they have actually seen it. As for best though, maybe not. Perhaps that lies with the simpler format of A View from a Bridge, the gritty tale of immigration in the fifties. So, does this new version, a co-production between Royal & Derngate and York Theatre Royal, do it justice?

In 1950s New York, hardworking longshoreman Eddie Carbone lives a simple life with his wife and niece deep in an immigrant community. When two of her Sicilian cousins arrives, slowly Eddie's life begins to change forever.

In a theatre world where life is rarely simple anymore and directors often get ahead of themselves with ideas and concepts, it comes as a delight when presented with a piece such as this version of A View from the Bridge directed by Juliet Forster. Never filled with clever unnecessary gimmicks, no big ideas to change a thing for "the better", no updating to make all the immigrant material about a mirror on modern life. This is Miller as Miller would have been produced back in the fifties. Allowing the audience to take their own meanings from the words and path that Miller takes us on, and simply allows us also to revel in the performances of this tremendously strong cast. And when I say tremendous, I mean it more than I have for a very long time. These actors live and breathe their roles, and when at the curtain call, your companion for the night observes that Nicholas Karimi is visibly drained, you see at that single moment the effort they have fed into the roles.

Karimi plays Eddie Carbone, a dream role for an actor, and a dream of an actor in the role. Raw, gritty, you follow the path that Eddie takes in a fixated state, even those, like myself who have seen it before, can find new depths in Karimi's performance. The final scenes, which I will not impart of their content, are staggering in their emotion. The swagger and physical movement Karimi bestows is simply incredible, and no, at that point, you don't see acting, you see Carbone and every bit of trauma that has brought him to this place in his life.

Overseeing all this, and "viewing" the developments is lawyer Alfieri, played with a relaxed and comforting style by Robert Pickavance. Nothing he has to say fills us with delight as we know he is imparting slowly upon us terrible events, but like all of the characters within this piece, he feels so real, so there in front of us.

Laura Pyper is understated and controlled as Beatrice, witnessing her troubled husbands torment calmly despite how much it clearly troubles her and his relationship with Catherine. As Catherine, Lili Miller delights in her innocence at events, a sort of lack of understanding of things, which makes the eventual events all the more traumatic. Like all the roles, the realism of how she performs is stunning.

As blonde immigrant Rodolpho, Pedro Leandro makes layers within layers in his character. Allowing those unfamiliar with the story to happily become confused as to his motives. His scene opening the second act with Lilli Miller is perfectly played, revealing nothing, but imparting much.

Reuben Johnson has less to say than most in his role as Marco, but in the perfection of casting, you feel you could not find any better. His moments of stunning confrontation with Eddie are raw, animalistic moments of tension, and they both are exceptional moments of theatre, which Johnson leads.

Rhys Jarman's set is simple and effective, offering a glimpse at Eddie's workplace at the start before falling back to his home for much of the rest of the play. Yvonne Morley as voice and dialect coach has done an exceptional job creating within the cast some of the clearest and crisp quality dialects I have heard for a while. Finally, a strong local community ensemble breathes depths into the scenes, forming the "community" itself, making the area thrive more with activity.

A View from the Bridge is superb, the best Miller production I have seen to date, and with an exceptional cast and creative team bringing an uncomplicated freshness to the show. A play for today, yes, but, this time, it doesn't force us to acknowledge that, but treats its audience with respect and allows us to take our own meaning. Superb!

Raw, gritty and emotionally stunning. This is Miller and A View from the Bridge at its very best.
⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Wednesday 16th October 2019 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton.
A View from the Bridge runs at Royal & Derngate until Saturday 26th October 2019.

For further details about the Royal & Derngate see their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk

Photos: Ian Hodgson

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Murder She Didn't Write at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Murder She Didn't Write , stopping off for a four-day run at Royal & Derngate on a lengthy UK tour, treads the now well-worn path of an improvisational evening of theatre entertainment. Unsurprisingly, from the title, this show from Degrees of Error's takes a murder mystery as its inspiration, with the story influenced by ideas from the audience each evening. Due to this, Murder She Didn't Write and a review are very much an individual affair. What I saw in my evening at the theatre will differ significantly from what the audience will see the following evening; however, the fine performers will remain. The touring cast, in no particular order, is Lizzy Skrzypiec, Rachael Procter-Lane, Peter Baker, Caitlin Campbell, Stephen Clements, Douglas Walker, Harry Allmark, Rosalind Beeson, Sylvia Bishop, Emily Brady, Alice Lamb, Sara Garrard, Peta Maurice and Matthew Whittle. For my performance, Skrzypiec, Procter-Lane, Baker, Walker, Bishop, and Clements were on stage alongsid...

Review of The Rocky Horror Show at Milton Keynes Theatre

Richard O’Brien’s anarchic, surreal, and often incomprehensible musical, The Rocky Horror Show , has captivated audiences for over fifty years now. With this new tour, it feels as fresh and unpredictable as if it had just emerged from O’Brien's vivid imagination yesterday. While another review might seem unnecessary given the countless dressed-up fans who fill every theatre it visits, let’s go ahead and write one anyway. The Rocky Horror Show follows the adventures of Brad and Janet, a newly engaged couple. On a dark and stormy November evening, they run into car trouble and seek refuge at a mysterious castle reminiscent of Frankenstein’s. There, they encounter the eccentric handyman Riff-Raff, the outrageous scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter, and a host of other bizarre characters. What unfolds is a science fiction B-movie narrative that is at times coherent and at other times bewildering — yet somehow, that doesn’t seem to matter. I first saw The Rocky Horror Show in 2019 and exper...

Review of War Horse at Milton Keynes Theatre

Michael Morpurgo's novel War Horse was published in 1982. While it was highly regarded and thought to be his best work, perhaps it eventually came to most people's attention when this striking play stormed the stage, thanks to the National Theatre, back in 2007. Now, War Horse arrives at Milton Keynes Theatre as part of another vast UK tour. Adapted by Nick Stafford in association with the award-winning Handspring Puppet Company, War Horse tells the story of the First World War through the eyes of one horse, Joey, sold for a record price from a family battle but eventually shipped off to war-torn France much to the distress of his original owner, 16-year old Albert. The sprawling and epic story should take some staging, but the vast cast, beautiful structure, stunning folk music and, of course, what this play has become known for, magnificent puppetry, all bring the story to life. This production, directed by Tom Morris and revival director Katie Henry, is a magnificent thin...