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Philip Whitchurch�s excellent hulk of Eddie�s possessive jealousy about his pretty niece Catherine surfaces even before his wife Beatrice�s cousins arrive as illegal �submarines� from Italy.� Rodolfo (Philip Reed) in particular is exotic; he is sexy, can sing, draws attention to himself and dazzles Maria Lawson�s Catherine, who really comes into her own in this role.
Diana Croft�s Beatrice, strongly rooted in reality, convinces us with her concern for Catherine and Eddie. James Earl Adair�s detached yet understanding narrator lawyer listens to Eddie�s irrational fears and warns him, but, driven to distraction, fatally flawed, he cannot contemplate the hideous truth.
Director Matt Devitt and his cast bring out all the humour in Miller�s uncompromising drama, but Catherine and Beatrice really need changes of costume more often.
It�s a measure of how things have changed in 50 years that the scene where Eddie kisses Rodolpho caused enormous laughter on first night, rather than the Lord Chamberlain�s shocked horror on our behalf when Miller wrote his play. Younger generations of audiences simply cannot comprehend what society was like that long ago. Revivals like this are� useful reminders of how far we�ve come, yet unfortunately, plus ca change, plus c�est la meme chose where immigrants are concerned.
Mary Redman - The Stage
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