After a critically acclaimed run in London, A View From The Bridge stops in Glasgow for one week as part of a very limited national tour.

Arthur Miller has created many tragic heroes in his time, and many of his plays focus on situations surrounding family loyalty and responsibility. A View From The Bridge seems to combine many of his themes in one play, and it’s humour and drama still provides entertainment to this day. The political statements that speak to us about our lives today, including the immigrant workers, the struggles for money are the background in which to place a simple story about misplaced love and loyalty.

This current production has pulled in two heavy hitters to lead the cast. Ken Stott as Eddie Carbone, a hardworking longshoreman, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as his wife Beatrice. The family unit is completed by orphaned neice Catherine, played by Hayley Atwell, whose movement into adulthood at age 17 provides the crux of the story. I’m unsure as to whether it was down to Lindsay Posner’s direction or Miss Atwell’s own performance, but her physical portrayal did seem a little too contrived and forced. Also there were some strange costume choices which seemed to contradict the script itself which I was very surprised to see in a production of this standard. On the other hand Ms. Mastrantonio’s minute movements are precisely placed and timed to make maximum impact. With the most genuine accent of all the cast, and probably the most genuine emotions throughout, she stood up to the powerhouse performance from Ken Stott, and definitely shone for me in this piece. Mr Stott had probably the most difficult of tasks as the character of Eddie is required to show huge shifts in emotion over very short periods of time. This could easily look “over-the-top” or forced, but the grounded performance from this diminutive actor ensured that it never crossed that line.

The story opens with the arrival of two immigrant Italian cousins, who are each met with different responses from the family (and also from this critic). Gerard Monaco as the hardworking family man Marco drew the audience into the likeable and humble side of his nature, while giving brief glimpses of the strength (both in character and physicality) which lay beneath. Harry Lloyd however, as Marco’s brother Rodolpho, was a different matter. Again, little production errors (like not dying the roots for someone who is supposed to be playing a natural blonde in a period piece!) didn’t help with the continuity of this character. The expressiveness and vivaciousness of this character was shown a little too excessively, and again I believe this may be down to direction more than the actors portrayal.

Over and above the performances mentioned above, Allan Corduner as the choric character of Alfieri. Although playing a part of the story as the Lawyer, it’s in the sections of narration where his authoritative tone makes it’s mark.

The scaling down of the set for this tour works well and the main living room set, design by Christopher Oram, works extremely well. The lighting design, by Peter Mumford, complements both the set, and the acting superbly, despite their being a few technical glitches on the opening night.

Although there were a few negative points, these were far outweighed by the positives in this production. As this is it’s only Scottish venue, they have luckily been able to add some extra seats this week, and they will be needed, as the chance to see these two leads deliver such strong performances should not be missed.

Listings

Mon 1:    7:30pm

Tue 2:     7.30pm

Wed 3:    7.30pm

Thu 4:     2.30pm, 7.30pm

Fri 5:       7.30pm

Sat 6:      2.30pm, 7.30pm

Tickets: £

Box Office: 0870 060 6647 (bkg fee)  web: www.theatreroyalglasgow.com