A View From The Bridge

A View from the Bridge is playing at the Lyceum Theatre located at 149 West 45th Street. It runs one hour fifty five minutes with no intermission. The play closes February 25, 2016.

The play was written by Arthur Miller. He won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for “Death of a Salesman”.

It premiered on September 29, 1955, at the Cornet Theatre (now the Eugene O’ Neill Theatre). It ran 149 performances. The next revival was in 1965 at the Sheridan Square Theatre. Dustin Hoffman was the assistant director and stage manager. In December 14, 1997 it opened at the Neil Simone Theatre and ran for 239 performances. It won two Tony Awards for Best Revival and Best Actor (Anthony LaPaglia). The most recent production was from January 24, 2010 thru April 2, 2010. Scarlett Johansson won a Tony Award. It played at the Ambassador Theatre and ran for 149 performances.

This production premiered at the Young Vic in London in April 2014. It transferred to London’s West End. The play won three 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Revival, Best Actor (Mark Strong) and Best director (Ivo Van Hove).

The show opens with two men cleaning themselves, they are shirtless.

Alfieri (Michael Gould) is a lawyer. He walks around the perimeter of the stage telling a little about the neighborhood in Brooklyn and the docks where the men work. Eddie (Mark Strong) is the main character. Alfieri will add information on what is going on from time to time.

Eddie works at the docks. His wife Catherine (Nicola Walker) is expecting two relatives from Italy, Rodolpho (Russell Tovey) and Marco (Michael Zegen). Marco is married with three kids and Rodolpho is single. Marco wants to home in five years and Rodolpho wants to stay here.

Eddie emphasizes to his wife and daughter Beatrice (Phoeba Fox) that since the men have come here illegally they can’t mention to any one that they are living with them. The two can be deported and they can get into trouble.

Eddie friend Louis (Richard Hansell) gets them jobs at the dock.

Rodolpho falls for Beatrice. She feels the same way about him. Eddie tells her he only wants to marry her in order to stay here legally. Beatrice is not his real daughter. She is his wife’s sister’s child. Eddie promised her he would take care of her. His feelings and actions toward her are not healthy as a father.

Things happen because of his jealousy on what is happening between Beatrice and Rodolpho.

What they are and what happens you will have to see this show.

This is one of the best productions of this show I have seen.

The stage is plain. There is a black wall in the back with a door opening. There is a square with a border around it wide enough for the cast to sit on. On both sides is the audience.

Marc said the set is left bare except for three props. The accents are all American. It was done this way so the audience would focus on what is being said and not be distracted with something else.

Amazing this is true.

Don’t miss this play with its different concept.

The cast is stellar.

Review by Rozanna Radakovich.

Photos by Annazor.

To read a candid interview with the cast, scroll down to the left for recent photos. Click on recent photos for this and other shows.