A Really Great View from the Bridge

A View from the Bridge
Arthur Miller
Directed by Hurst Lower Sixth Formers, Amie Shouler and Hollie Trist
Lent Term 2010: 11^th-13^th January

The play is a tragedy and so must engage. For unless we care about the protagonist, Eddie Carbone, so ably played by George Greenstreet, no drama can be achieved. This production built up to the death of Eddie, killed by his own hand, skilfully; the ensemble actors relaxing into the domestic lighter scenes as resting places in their climb towards the awful summit. They were a terrific team.

There was generous acting all night which takes modesty, maturity, nerve and skill. James Livesey’s understated lawyer, Alfieri, allowed George’s language to grow more portentous than in most productions where the lawyer is played as a god. Constance Candler’s Beatrice always reacted naturally, Constance exhibiting enormous physical energy and gluing the dwellers of the grotty apartment that passes for home together. The set was predictably sparse (dockers have no money), and the directors held outside scenes in what doubled up as indoors, to convey the outside world crowding in on Eddie, to represent the idea that the private truth he cannot face will become known.

His private truth is that he harbours improper feelings for his niece Catherine, and this disgusts him so much that he would rather die than accept it, or kill himself because of it. George Greenstreet looked caged and angry, flexed and unflexed his muscles continuously and was inhabited by the perverse force that had moved into his body, never once dropping that pain: this was a terrific piece of physical acting and when it combined with a sustained Brooklyn twang became quite compelling. Izzy Bloomer as Catherine conveyed the latter’s development from moody, sexually-aware adolescent to self-possessed womanhood. This is some journey and she did it with lovely touches of voice and movement, morphing from light speaking and skippingiinto deeper tones, steadier gazing and standing.

The Sicilian cousins made for great contrast. Cameron Tubb played Marco as taciturn, brooding and gentlemanly and Bailey Pilbeam was a confident, garrulous, physically electric Rodolfo. That these two young actors held their own with senior partners speaks well of both former and latter.

The view from the audience that saw it was concerted: this was a gem of a production.