Intense: A View From The Bridge, Theatre Royal Bath
Arthur Miller’s examination of working class urban American culture meets Jacobean heightened drama in Brooklyn. Dominic West was formidable as a pained, troubled and deeply unhealthy father figure to his niece. His incredible performance gives us sympathy for someone who could just be deeply unpleasant. Examining first vs second generation immigrants, older vs younger generations and what it means to father and care, Miller telescopes a family setting into a political setting.
In the intimate setting of the Ustinov Theatre, pre-West End transfer, we feel Eddie Carbone’s seething and conflicted emotions. A lot of the time it was gasp-worthy as the shocking events played out. Outwardly ‘respectable’, a hard working good bloke, Eddie likes nothing more to come home to his wife, niece who he treats as a favoured daughter, coffee and his rocking chair and the news. At the same time he’s very concerned about his niece Catherine’s developing from girl to woman and the fact that people (i.e. the men of the neighbourhood) are noticing her too. But she’s smart and keen to leave school and start working — and earning.
At the same time, his very much in the background wife, Beatrice (Kate Fleetwood) stands up for Catherine (Nia Towle), whilst reminding her that she is a woman now and not a child. Time to act like one! Beatrice invites her family, Rodolpho (Callum Scott Howells) and his pal Marco (Pierro Niel-Mee) to stay — only they are illegal immigrants and need to stay under the radar of the law.
Rodolpho is young, sunny, blonde, charming, humourous, polite, respectful, liked by all — and to Eddie, deeply sinister. Eddie’s increasing sense of threat towards Rodolpho manifests itself in some boxing training, where he seemingly fights his rival. His sense of promised protection over Catherine intensifies into control, obsession and demanded respect.
Ironically as an ‘established’ second or third generation immigrant, Eddie keeps ‘othering’ newer immigrants. He finds Roldolpho’s singing, dancing and amiability suspect — and when he finds he can make a dress or turn his hand to anything — sends him off the scale with rage. Clearly he is not a real man, demonstrated by Eddie’s snarky comments about his outrageous hair colour. He’s blonde!!!
In contrast, ox-like Marco, working and saving hard for his wife and children back in Italy, is not othered. He’s a good bloke to take to boxing matches. A chair lifting contest between Eddie and Marco hints at things to come between them as Marco bests and defeats Eddie.
Narrated by the lawyer Alfieri (magnificent Martin Marquez), who is also Eddie’s friend and confidant, the sense of unease grows as he thinks darkly of terrible things to come. It’s not going to end well — and it doesn’t.
Full throttling into Jacobean drama, Eddie tests/humiliates Rodolpho by kissing him infront of his fiancé Catherine, and almost kisses Catherine too. This grimly inappropriate moment is apparently done to get Rodolpho to show himself, to show his strength as a real man. In shock (and probably horror), Rodolpho doesn’t behave as Eddie expects — damming himself in Eddie’s harsh view of things.
Strangely, Beatrice blames Catherine for her uncle’s behaviour. Catherine has hysterics — a reasonable response. Then the screaming starts — Eddie’s carping progresses to bullying — that his wife must agree with whatever he thinks and says as the ‘man of the house’. His hatred for Rodolpho manifests in a new way — he makes a secret phone call to immigration and tells them where to find Marco and Rodolpho. Only they’ve been joined by two newcomers — whose family will be murderously angry if they find out what Eddie’s done to them.
Marco and Rodolpho are arrested, subject to deportation and Rodolpho only saves himself by marrying Catherine. Only this never happens — and is the frustrating part of the play. Rather than leaving, Catherine takes an enormously long time saying she’s going to leave — and then doesn’t. Her aunt is coerced by very angry Eddie into not attending the wedding. Marco feels Eddie’s betrayal deeply, pushing his family into starvation — and after brooding over this, fights Eddie, stabbing him to death in the end. The women keen over Eddie; Rodolpho (unmarried and probably soon to be deported now) is shocked in the background. He has even tried to make peace between Marco and Eddie beforehand — although Eddie is behaving in crazed and rampaging ways, blaming Marco (and not himself) for his loss of reputation in the community.
It is a disturbing play. Eddie is deeply obsessed and troubled, but Dominic West’s emotional performance help us to see who he is. He starts off as ordinary working man, worried and concerned, but decent. Rapidly he becomes controlling, furious and vengeful. Rodolpho here is given a fair shot as he is shown as a full character — rather than just a suspect other. Beatrice is equally disturbing in the way that she blames Catherine for bringing her uncle’s obsession on herself — when, in fact, incest is hinted at.
Whilst discussing ideas of immigration and community, the play never fully goes there. It could have had deeper things to say. However, what it does do is consider the way that immigrants judge each other by longevity, as well as look at male status and ego within a community setting. It even plays in clunky ways with what masculinity is. Better done is the communal voice — the impact that what everyone says about someone (and what they don’t say) has on people and their lives. Then it all goes John Ford/John Webster!
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