Review Roundup: A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE at American Players Theatre

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE by Arthur Miller follows Eddie and Beatrice in their hardworking Brooklyn neighborhood, where family ties are a fierce point of pride. Case in point, Bea's orphaned niece, Catherine has lived with them since she was a child and is now ready to make her way in the world, though Eddie seems reluctant to let her grow up. When the couple agrees to take in two of Bea's cousins, Marco and Rodolpho, who have traveled from Italy to find work illegally, Catherine and Rodolpho start spending more time together, fanning Eddie's hot temper and driving the family to an emotional boiling point.

The cast features Jim DeVita as Eddie, Colleen Madden as Beatrice, ipp Moorman as Louis, Tim Gittings as Mike, Brian Mani as Alfieri, Melisa Pereyra as Catherine, Danny Martinez as Tony, Casey Hoekstra as Marco, Will Mobley as Rodolpho, Robert R. Doyle as First Immigration Officer, and Josh Krause as Second Immigration Officer.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

Alexis Bugajski, Picture This Post: The actors in this production make the pages of the script come to life. The acting feels natural to the point where we believe these actors were made to play these characters all their life. We see DeVita going from a confident head of the household to a man more and more unhinged DeVita makes our hearts go out to him, but also make us pity him. His confusion and anger leading up to his final scene has us on the edge of our seats fearful of what's to come... As we leave the theater with raw emotions, we realize this production has left us on the edge of our seats.

Paul Kosidowski, Milwaukee Magazine: For the superb specificity of the performances, also credit director Tim Ocel, who finely tunes the ensemble and controls the story's inevitable pace. With a cast of ten actors, this is a story that could have held its own on the larger, outdoor stage, but it gains immeasurable power from the intimacy of the indoor Touchstone Theatre. It's hard to imagine a finer rendering of this great American classic.

Gwendolyn Rice, The Isthmus: As Beatrice, Colleen Madden also creates a character who is slowly unraveling. Aware of her husband's growing lust for their charge, her face shows the strain as she tolerates Eddie's slights. As their conflicts intensify, she asks, implores, demands and finally begs Eddie to return to their marriage. The heartbreak that resonates through her whole body as her family is finally torn apart is a seismic event. As immigration officers descend on the family from the back of the house, friends from the docks look down on Eddie's actions from the top of the aisles. The audience is like a crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene of a tragic crime. Building on last season's Miller classic Death of a Salesman, this production is American tragedy at its finest.

Mike Fischer, The Journal Sentinel: In another triumph for one of American Players Theatre's best directors, Tim Ocel teams with a cast led by a great Jim DeVita to exploit that disconnect between cramped circumstance and operatic passion. The result is a devastating "Bridge," in which titanic onstage emotion continually engulfs the audience within APT's intimate Touchstone Theatre... Ocel's staging makes clear that this entire community is caught in a trap, where everyone has kept quiet about too much, for too long. "Whatever happened, we all done it," Bea says to her niece. "Don't you ever forget that." Not likely, any more than you'll ever forget the view from this "Bridge."

Lindsay Christians, The Cap Times: Tim Ocel directs this skilled, tight-knit ensemble like a spool unraveling, as Eddie begins to flail and sink further into a warped sense of injustice. Ocel gives each shift in power, silent decision and moment of understanding the chance to breathe and ripple out like a wave. There's a tragic inevitability to "A View from the Bridge" that's driven home by a lawyer character (Brian Mani) who frames and narrates the action with a sense of powerlessness. There's also love in this story. That part is more complicated... DeVita, a confident physical performer with a history on New York docks himself, deftly balances Eddie's machismo with a softness around the eyes. Madden gives Bea warmth as well as an iron core, even as she tells Catherine in no uncertain terms that it's time for the girl to go.

Photo: americanplayers.org

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