Review: A View From The Bridge Is A Must See At New Theatre

★★★★★

New Theatre’s production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge is a powerful exploration of the fallacies of masculinity. 

Tragic playwright Arthur Miller is best known for the 1949 play Death of a Salesman and the 1953 play The Crucible. A View from the Bridge came out not long after, in 1955, and is set in Brooklyn in the 1950s. It follows an Italian American family harbouring two cousins who have illegally immigrated from Italy.

A major theme in the play is ambiguity. Audiences don’t see inside the minds of its characters but they do see their words and actions. The show compels audiences to make assumptions and intentionally leaves no clear answers.  

This production has an extremely talented cast. The main character, Eddie, is played by Alex Bryant-Smith. He very compellingly lulls audiences into a level of comfort. His acting feels real and raw.

So too is the performance of Megan-Elizabeth Kennedy as Eddie’s loyal wife Beatrice. She captures a strong vulnerability in Beatrice that contrasts excellently with the stoic facade Bryant-Smith brings to Eddie.

Their daughter Catherine is played by Georgia Da Silva. It’s crushing to watch the transition from playing a buzzing, energetic young girl to an angry, lost young woman. Da Silva carefully builds this gradual change.

Most importantly for the tragic tale, the characters feel real. The acting brings Miller’s characters off the page and turns them into what feels like a real family.

This is in part due to the wonderful accents brought together by dialect coach Nick Curnow. Alongside being an actor and director, Curnow has worked in voice-over, training and coaching for clients such as Google and Spotify. His extensive experience in the industry ensures actors’ accents are up to par and don’t disrupt their realistic acting. 

Though Miller’s work is a tragedy, it is rife with humorous moments and characters. It only truly drops its humour in the shorter second act, which feels rewarding, though heartbreaking, to watch. 

Finn Couzner as the flamboyant Adolpho is one such example. Through his expressive body language, Couzner brings a lot of charm to the role. 

Co-director Luke Visentin makes a phenomenal directorial debut. Working alongside New Theatre’s artistic director Louise Fischer, the pair have approached Miller’s work with tenderness and care.

There’s a unique and slow dance scene in Act 2 that, with the help of Patrick Howard’s haunting sound design, feels perfectly placed. The moment is solemn, fleeting and foreboding all at once. 

Lighting and set design by Victor Kalka and Tom Bannerman, respectively, create a consistent and warm image of the apartment. The wooden stairs create a homey atmosphere and lead to some evocative imagery. These transition seamlessly into a lectern, where Elena Palvi delivers her thought-provoking monologues as Elfieri.

Though the show has a 2-hour 15-minute run time, it breezes by like a whirlwind. Once the show concludes, the audience is left in a reflective silence. 

The moral questioning and societal critique within Miller’s work is one that stands the test of time. New Theatre’s excellent production of A View from the Bridge is one you simply cannot miss. 

A View from the Bridge runs to 5 September at New Theatre Newtown. 542 King Street Newtown NSW 2081.

Tickets: https://aunewtheatre.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/156914

Website: https://newtheatre.org.au/a-view-from-the-bridge/

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/newtheatresydney/

Photo credits: Bob Seary