Review: A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, Theatre Royal Haymarket

The first major revival of Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge in a decade plays on  the downfall of the 'Everyman'. Eddie Carbone is a hard-worker, popular, a man's man. But something deep and dangerous is gnawing at his heart.

This time around, Lindsey Posner directs Dominic West in the lead role. A familiar face from TV, notably his Prince Charles in The Crown, he inhabits the slightly scruffy, swaggering Carbone with a light touch to begin with. This is an ordinary man who is destroyed by desire.

In the framing narrative, the chorus of the Brookyn lawyer "associated with disaster", played by Martin Marquez, warns us of the rocky road ahead in this modern tragedy. He also warns Eddie to obey the law (both written and natural).

The object of Eddie's obsession is his niece, Catherine (Nia Towle), now a young woman of 17. She seeks to spread her wings but still wants to be her uncle's little girl. As she first seeks work, then love, the family relationship falters then flares to the inevitable finale.

Into this pressure cooker of emotions comes Marco (Pierro Niel-Mee) and Rodolpho (Callum Scott Howells), impoverished cousins of Eddie's wife Bea (Kate Fleetwood).

Their status as illegal immigrants coming in to take work and women isn't much of a step away from media perceptions of 21st century refugees.

These are men who are looking to better themselves, and in Marco's case, send enough home to Italy to feed a wife and three starving children.

As Catherine and Rodolpho fall in love, perhaps because he's funny, kind, and creative, Eddie simmers and broods. The young man who sings, makes dresses, cooks and has blond hair bothers and needles him.

Peter McKintosh's set of wooden slats, fire escapes and windows, dressed with a simple table and chairs, leave little room to hide. Fleetwood particularly impresses with her quiet reactions and measured hurt at rejection. She sees where her husband's eyes are looking, winces at every touch between him and a Catherine who remains oblivious too long.

Towle perfectly captures the character of a girl navigating the tightrope of independence and awakening, and there is a tense chemistry between her and West. With Howells she is shy but inquisitive, a good match with his exuberance, and they both handle a charged scene about their future well.

While Niel-Mee's Marco is a mature protector with inner fire, it is West's Eddie many have come for. He isn't the dangerous and oppressive titan to begin with, but that makes his final scenes more pathetic and heartbreaking.

Miller's text may be set in the 1950s but has themes that are very pertinent today. A bold and intriguing revival.

A View From The Bridge continues at Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Photo credit: Johan Persson

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