A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE to Play Coventry's Belgrade Theatre in April

The Belgrade Theatre Coventry is thrilled to play host to the Touring Consortium Theatre Company's new production of A View from the Bridge from Wed 8 - Sat 11 April. Directed by Stephen Unwin with Jonathan Guy Lewis as 'Eddie Carbone' and Michael Brandon as 'Alfieri', this major new touring production has been staged to celebrate the centenary of Arthur Miller's birth.

Jonathan and Michael are joined in the cast by John Alastair as 'Mike', Teresa Banham as 'Beatrice Carbone', Daisy Boulton as 'Catherine', Philip Cairns as 'Marco', James Rastall, as 'Rodolpho', Orestes Sophocleous as 'Louis' and Ben Woodhall as 'Tony'. Completing the cast will be Paul Chesterton as 'Immigration Officer', and Lara de Leuw.

Michael Brandon commented, "It's a great privilege to play 'Alfieri' in A View from the Bridge as he speaks for Arthur Miller in the play. As a Brooklyn ghetto born street kid this play takes me home... However hard I worked over thirty years of London living to lose the NYC accent, the old adage applies; you can take the boy out of Brooklyn but you can't take Brooklyn out of the boy!"

Ten members of the local Coventry and Warwickshire community will join the professional company of actors on stage this April after successfully auditioning for roles in the production earlier this year.

Associate Producer Neale Birch said, "The Touring Consortium Theatre Company is keen to engage the community in the arts in any way we can. Offering local actors a chance to work with our professional company by joining the production is one of the most effective ways. We have done this successfully on a number of recent productions and we have seen how rewarding an experience it can be, as a learning experience as well as being exciting and enjoyable. The regional audiences benefit from the production having a greater local connection, and we are pleased to be able to develop a stronger relationship between the community and their theatres."

Set in the dangerous and mysterious world of New York's Brooklyn harbour in the 1950s, respected longshoreman Eddie Carbone lives with his wife and niece in a tight knit Italian community bound by strong moral codes of justice and honour. When Eddie and his wife welcome two cousins into their home, Marco and Rodolpho, recently arrived from Sicily, the balance of Eddie's family relationships is dangerously rocked. As the young men seek work, wealth and security they find themselves in a threatening country shimmering with the mirage known as The American Dream.

One of Arthur Miller's masterpieces, this gripping and passionate drama ranks as one of the great classics of our time; a powerful and deeply moving play that crackles with raw emotion.

Jonathan Guy Lewis is an actor, writer and director, whose play Our Boys opened to universally good reviews in 1991 and had a West End revival in 2012 starring Laurence Fox, Arthur Darvill and Cian Barry. His one-man show I Found My Horn toured the UK, and then played the Hampstead Theatre before transferring to the Trafalgar Studios in London's West End in 2014. Jonathan has appeared in numerous television dramas including Soldier, Soldier, London's Burning, Coronation Street, Silent Witness and Heartbeat.

US born Michael Brandon's extensive stage and screen credits include: 'Dempsey' in the cult 80s TV series Dempsey and Makepeace, originating the role of 'Jerry' in Jerry Springer the Opera, for which he received an Olivier Award nomination, Lady and the Clarinet opposite Stockard Channing, David Mamet's Speed the Plow, and 'Charlie' in Stephen Berkoff's On the Waterfront. He has starred in numerous TV movies on both sides of the Atlantic, including Hustle, Doctor Who, Dennis Potter's Visitors, Hawking and The Last of the Lehman Brothers for the BBC, and HBO's The Contaminated Man with Natasha McElhone. In 2013, he appeared with his wife Glynis Barber on the ITV dance show Stepping Out.

Teresa Banham television credits include Vera, Poirot, Silent Witness, Waking the Dead and Doctor Who and stage credits include A Chorus of Disapproval (West End), Heresy of Love (RSC) and Measure for Measure (RSC). Daisy Boulton has recently appeared as 'Kate' in Shakespeare in Love (Noel Coward Theatre) as well as The White Carnation (The Finborough). James Rastall's screen credits include: Jamaica Inn, Father Brown, Atlantis, Family Tee and Vera. Philip Cairns' has made appearances in Kill Johnny Glendenning (Citizens Theatre/Lyceum Theatre), Dial M for Murder (Fiery Angel) and Home Theatre (Theatre Royal Stratford East).

A View from The Bridge will be directed by Stephen Unwin who launched ETT in the 1990's and succeeded Sir Peter Hall as Artistic Director of the Rose Theatre Kingston- a postion he held for six years, designed by Liz Ascroft, lighting design by Paul Pyant, and sound design by John A Leonard.

Led by producers Jenny King and Matthew Gale, the Touring Consortium tours large scale quality drama with integrated creative learning and outreach programmes to a circuit of seven regional theatres including Blackpool Grand Theatre, Cheltenham Everyman Theatre, Darlington Civic Theatre, Bradford Alhambra, Wolverhampton Grand, Nottingham Theatre Royal and the Edinburgh King's.

A View from the Bridge is the fourth Touring Consortium Theatre Company production funded by the Arts Council of England's Strategic Touring Programme. See more at: Theatrecloud.com

A View from the Bridge visits the Belgrade Theatre from Wed 8 - Sat 11 April. Tickets are priced from £11.25 - £26 with concessions available. For more information and to book your tickets, call the Box Office on 024 7655 3055 or visit www.belgrade.co.uk where tickets are cheaper.

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