Playwright: Arthur Miller
At: American Theater Co., 1909 W. Byron
Phone: (773) 929-1031; $25-$30
Runs through: Nov. 7
American Theater Company reveals its take on Arthur Miller's opus with A View from the Bridge, Miller's mid-1950s drama of familial relationships and betrayal. Originally written in verse as a one act (from a screenplay called The Hook), A View from the Bridge got a chilly reception from critics and audiences. For its London premiere, Miller expanded his story to two acts, switched to prose, and allowed his characters more voice, resulting in a more sympathetic portrait of a family and more logic behind the betrayal at its center.
The story models itself after classic theater, complete with a tragic flaw and the subsequent knowledge gained and suffering endured. Set in a lower-class Brooklyn neighborhood, Miller focuses on the family of longshoreman Eddie Carbone (John Sterchi, tightly coiled and ready to explode), consisting of his long-suffering wife, Bea (Mierka Girten, a sympathetic and credible characterization), and their niece Catherine (Kelly Breheny). Catherine, beautiful, young and headstrong in a way only young people poised on the brink of adulthood can be, is inciting a disturbing mix of feelings in her uncle, who cannot bear to see his charge grow up and away. The arrival from Sicily of two illegal alien cousins makes the mood in the house even more explosive, especially when Catherine falls in love with the charming Rudolpho (Matthew Brumlow). The young lovers set up a situation Eddie Carbone can scarcely endure, which leads him to an ultimate act of betrayal, bringing him to his demise.
Under the direction of Damon Kiely, the American Theater Company does some ambitious work. Kiely's ensemble is impressive, especially the five principles, who create believable, flawed people who convincingly display a range of real emotion. But, like Eddie Carbone, this production has its own tragic flaw. The set design (by Jackie and Rick Penrod) is a handsome, two-tiered affair, its rough-hewn look perfect for the waterfront longshoremen world Eddie inhabits. The problem is this isn't On the Waterfront. A View from the Bridge is a family drama and, as such, needs to be grounded in reality. The set shouldn't be this expressionistic. For one, the characters are lost in the open space and worse, we don't ever experience reality in this attractive, but stylized set. We need to see the Carbones in a real Italian home, so we get a sense of place and period attached to the family and not the occupation of the household head.
And while the actors do great work with Miller's muscular dialogue, Kiely needed to be more conscientious about the choreography of pivotal scenes. For example, the opening of the second act, when a pushed-to-the-edge Eddie plants inappropriate kisses on both his niece and her suitor (ostensibly to out him as the homosexual he suspects he is). This moment goes too fast; it's glossed over. We need to be able to absorb the subtext and what it portends. The final, climactic scene suffers also from rushed, unconvincing fight choreography, which it really needs: this is high tragedy. The narrator of the play, neighborhood lawyer (John Morhlein) hurries in with his closing monologue, which practically segues from what should have been a very emotional moment. There needs to be a pause, to let the tragedy have its effect on the audience.
This is one of Miller's greatest plays. And while American Theater Company does a competent and very inspired job, they just aren't up to the task here.