Displaying items by tag: A View from the Bridge

Arthur Miller’s perennial classic, ‘A View from the Bridge’, is revived in a faithful production at Shattered Globe Theater. Under the direction of Lou Contey, a cast of familiar Shattered Globe ensemble and a few new faces bring this powder keg of a tale to their stage for the first time since the 1990s.

Every few years, a landmark production of ‘A View from the Bridge’ comes—Chicagoans will remember Ivo Van Hove’s arresting production imported by Goodman in 2017. However, if that’s the only version you’ve seen, you owe it to yourself to see it staged in the way Arthur Miller intended.

Though it wasn’t exactly a smash hit when it debuted on Broadway in 1955, it was through subsequent rewrites and notable revivals that ‘A View from the Bridge’ became nearly as popular as more seminal Miller works like ‘The Crucible’ and ‘Death of a Salesman.’ Perhaps it’s produced so often because its themes surrounding immigration and prejudice remain relevant.

‘A View from the Bridge’ is about a longshoreman, Eddie Carbone (Scott Aiello), and his wife Beatrice (Eileen Niccolai), and their adopted niece Catherine (Isabelle Muthiah). Life is great for the working-class Brooklyn family until their distant relatives from Italy come to stay with them illegally. When a relationship starts to bud between immigrant Rodolpho (Harrison Weger) and Catherine, Eddie’s inappropriate affection for his niece is called into question.

This play has always been a star-turning vehicle for actresses playing Catherine. Scarlett Johanson and Brittany Murphy both took home Tonys for the role. However, Shattered Globe ensemble member Eileen Niccolai’s compelling performance as Beatrice brings the part of the pseudo-cuckolded wife into sharper focus. Niccolai’s Beatrice is vulnerable and needy; she knows her husband isn’t perfect, but he’s all she’s got. Ultimately, she’s the victim of this tragic story. There’s something so fragile about Niccolai’s interpretation.

Inventive staging by Shayna Patel puts the play in a set that looks like a boxing ring. It's a fitting locale for a play so centered around violence. The narrator is a lawyer and interjects an almost inhuman sense of foreboding doom about the Carbones throughout the play. In his view, and perhaps Miller’s greater view, society is so dysfunctional that it leads the lower classes to duke it out at the bottom. Unlike ‘The Crucible,’ Miller points out that having your name respected in the street is just machismo, especially when you’re not respectable.

Themes of toxic masculinity, immigration reform and family abuse are sadly more relevant now than in the 1950s, and the enduring popularity of ‘View from the Bridge’ should inspire activism.

Shattered Globe is one of Chicago’s best and longest-running storefront theatres and it’s easy to see why. Their briskly paced production of ‘A View From the Bridge’ is wonderfully acted, beautifully staged and very traditional. If you like classic American plays, this is the one to see.

Through October 21 at Shattered Globe Theatre at Theater Wit. 1229 W Belmont, Chicago IL 60657 | 773-975-8150

The Goodman Theatre almost never includes a show in their subscriber season that they haven’t developed themselves. Dutch director Ivo van Hove began his vivid production of Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge” in London before bringing it to Broadway in 2016. It went on to win the Tony Award for best revival. Goodman artistic director Robert Falls requisitioned the work for Chicago prior to the Broadway run. Some may remember van Hove’s contribution to the Goodman’s 2009 Eugene O’Neill Fest. His arresting version of “Mourning Becomes Electra” performed entirely in Dutch was a sure stand out.

Ivo van Hove’s vision for Arthur Miller is uniquely his own in that it’s nothing like you’ve ever seen. If a standard Miller production bores you, then imagine an electric guitar version of Miller. The scenery and scene changes have been cut and what’s left is a minimalist masterclass in strong directorial choices. Minimalism doesn’t mean a lack of spectacle. The white cube contains the play to a small portion of the stage, allowing for audience members to sit right on stage. Each movement of this highly choreographed production creates a stunning visual.

Suffice it to say, you’ll never see “A View from the Bridge” like this again. van Hove’s intention is to create an “ultimate” version of classic American works through a European lens. What he reflects back is interesting. The concluding scene is a work of installation art, and leaves you with an unsettling feeling that we are but animals battling it out at the bottom. As with his interpretation of O’Neill’s “Mourning Becomes Electra”, van Hove is unafraid of heightening the subtle sexuality in the script. The blocking between Catherine (Catherine Combs) and Eddie Carbone (Ian Bedford) is highly suggestive and pushes the envelope even further than Miller had in 1953.

There’s no scenery, no costumes and no tricks for this cast to hide behind. Since the New York production, some of the parts have been recast, but many have not. Catherine Combs reprises her role as Catherine, but is no stranger to the Goodman stage. Combs’ performance is transfixing. She’s able to balance the juvenile qualities of a young girl in a falsetto, but convey the deep-voiced desires of a woman with an unexpected control. Playing her adoptive mother Beatrice, Andrus Nichols, commands each scene. The script would make this character a weakling, unable to stand up to her hulking husband. Nichols brings a hardened strength to the role that propels the final scenes to full throttle.

This production will stick with you. With our nation’s president touting severe immigration reform, this play comes at a critical point in history. Arthur Miller wrote plays that addressed social issues. In many ways Eddie Carbone is how Miller saw America, as something afraid of change. When we hear white supremacists chanting “You will not replace us” on national TV, it’s hard not to draw comparisons. This is an essential play for our times. Ivo van Hove has created a striking and extremely intense version of “A View from the Bridge” that Arthur Miller himself would applaud.

Through October 15th at the Goodman Theatre. 170 North Dearborn. 312-443-3811

*Now extended through October 22nd