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By Pete Henshaw
FIFTY years since debuting in New York, Arthur Miller's dramatic, emotional and tragic script A View from the Bridge is re-produced at the Queen's Theatre, Billet Lane, Hornchurch.
The raw and gritty script is set in 1950s Brooklyn, New York, where Eddie and Beatrice Carbone, and their teenage niece Catherine, live in a fiercely loyal Italian community in the shadow of Brooklyn Bridge and Eddie works hard on the docks to get by.
When Beatrice's Sicilian cousins come to America as illegal immigrants the family put them up. Marco has a wife and a sick child back in Italy, but his brother Rodolpho is starting a new life and soon starts a relationship with Catherine.
What evolves is a battle of wills between Eddie and Rodolpho as the uncle struggles to let go of his niece. He sees Rodolpho's affections as a threat to his life and becomes beset with jealousy and paranoia, ultimately leading to tragedy.
The play has overtones of incest and homosexuality, the latter of which led to the play originally being banned in London in 1956, and is inspired by Miller's time working in the Brooklyn Navy yard when the majority of the workforce were Italian immigrants.
The Queen's Theatre production features members of "cut to the chase", the theatre's professional resident company and is directed by Matt Devitt.
It is a cracking production which relays the raw-ness, emotion and tragedy of the play brilliantly. A lot of this is down to the acting, especially amongst the main cast, which is superb.
Philip Whitchurch, who has many TV credits including The Bill, lead the way with an emotional and wonderful-to-watch performance in the role of Eddie.
Diana Croft as Beatrice, a Brooklyn housewife, and Maria Lawson as Catherine, a young girl who is quickly growing into a woman, are both incredibly believable while James Waverley as Marco and Philip Reed as Rodolpho are passionately engaging, humorous and excellent in their roles as the two loyal immigrants.
James Earl Adair is perfect (in accent and in character) in his role as the New York lawyer Alfieri who Eddie comes to for advice and who also provides commentary on the play.
The set is also cleverly put together and really brings out the gritty-ness of the play and the closeness of the neighbourhood community the characters live in.
A final mention should also go to the fight scenes, which managed to avoid being contrived and naff as many can be. They were well choreographed and even shocking to an extent, which added volumes to the overall effect.
A View from the Bridge runs until Saturday, October 23. Tickets are �8.50 to �16 and to book, ring the box office on 01708 443333.
Bishop's Stortford Citizen - Friday 8th October 2004
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