Review: A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE is Bleak and Beautiful at the Kennedy Center

The plot of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE is straightforward, and the source material by Arthur Miller is pretty good, but the spectacular staging of this classic work at the Kennedy Center elevates what could have been a fairly pedestrian family drama to atmospheric heights. The very definition of "catharsis", this spellbinding production stuns with stripped-down, potent emotion.

In association with the Center Theatre Group, the Kennedy Center presents Young Vic's 2015 Olivier Award-winning production, which was recently on Broadway and garnered two 2016 Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Play and Best Director (Ivo Van Hove). Washington is incredibly fortunate to receive A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE as an exclusive tour stop following the Los Angeles engagement.

The story follows longshoreman Eddie Carbone (Frederick Weller), a tragic figure consumed by obsession with his 17-year-old niece Catherine (Catherine Combs), whom he has raised as his own along with his wife Beatrice (Andrus Nichols). Beatrice welcomes two immigrants into the family's Brooklyn apartment to live temporarily: masculine Marco (Alex Esola) focuses on his work, but to Eddie's horror, charming Rodolpho (Dave Register) seems to have his focus on Catherine, and she returns the sentiment. The lawyer Alfieri (Thomas Jay Ryan) is the narrator/Greek chorus who warns us of the perils to come. He starts out on the fringe of the drama but soon finds himself in the midst of an unfurling disaster ten thousand times worse than any post-election-season holiday dinner we could imagine.

The setting is a tight-knit Italian-American community in the 1950s, but the minimalist set and stark lighting create a sense of suspension in space and time. Some audience members are seated in stands on either side of the stage as conspicuous spectators. The entire set is encased in opaque walls which slowly rise when the play begins, as if something unsettling were about to be revealed, and it is. Jan Versweyveld, a longtime collaborator with Van Hove, was deservedly Tony-nominated for both Scenic Design and Lighting Design. Sound designer Tom Gibbons, another frequent Van Hove collaborator, infuses the proceedings with ominous, omnipresent tension in the form of sparse tones and operatic strains. Sound interweaves with dialogue; in one scene, each spoken sentence alternates with a series of drum beats, allowing the dark comedy of the words to have maximum impact.

Actors roam barefoot within the low, transparent walls outlining the perimeter of the apartment. They wear timeless outfits (costume design by An D'Huys) that are practically contemporary, with only a vague 50s aesthetic, a reminder that this isn't meant to be a period piece. Though the staging itself is what makes this production worthwhile, it demands actors with raw authenticity worthy of magnification under the bright lights. Weller cuts a menacing figure as Eddie, with eyes "like tunnels", while Combs is light as a dancer as Catherine, somewhere between girl and woman. Their interactions are overtly magnetic, on display for all to see. Nichols is a weary, observational Beatrice, desperate to anchor herself and her loved ones as they unravel. This unconventional family has, after all, walked a thin line of normality for a long time. When it finally combusts, none of the actors hold anything back.

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE is drama in the truest sense, a showcase for powerful acting enhanced by unforgettable atmospherics. The feeling of exhilaration from the release of this pressure cooker of emotion lingers long after leaving the theater.

Running time: approximately 2 hours without an intermission.

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE runs through December 3rd, 2016, at the Eisenhower Theater at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20566. Tickets can be purchased at kennedy-center.org or by calling (800) 444-1324.

Photo: Andrus Nichols as Beatrice and Frederick Weller as Eddie in A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE; photo by Jan Versweyveld, courtesy of the Kennedy Center.

To post a comment, you must register and login.