Showing @ Lyceum Theatre until Feb 12, 19:45
The titular bridge in Arthur Miller’s oft-produced tragedy stands not only for the linking of Sicilian and American cultures that form the wider societal tension of the play, but also, as references to ancient Greece illuminate, the way in which all cultures are bridged from others. For all its endless topicality, perhaps it’s this sense of profound integration, set against the economically determined immigration in the play, that makes it resonate so strongly half a century on.
Director John Dove’s typically solid production boasts an immense performance from Stanley Townsend as Eddie Carbone, the Sicilian-American longshoreman whose unhealthy affections for his niece lead him to turn over on two illegal immigrants harboured in his house. With his wide-eyes and bellowing voice, Townsend bears a fair resemblance to Rodney Dangerfield, but also manages to capture the uncomfortably ambiguous familial affections, sexual insecurity and cultural schizophrenia whilst nailing the Brooklyn accent, no mean feat. Other strong performances include Kathryn Howden’s torn and neglected wife Beatrice and Liam Brennan as the chorus-like lawyer Alfieri, while Kirsty Mackay, playing Catherine, may prove to be a talented actress if she learns to stop choking her vocal apparatus with strenuous faux-emotion.
Still mired in the persecutory angst of McCarthy’s witchhunts, Miller, who famously took a courageous stand when asked to roll over on leftists friends, here shows what could make someone, like his acclaimed old coworker Elia Kazan, do the opposite. “It’s better to settle for half”, says Alfieri, understanding that in a world with such an economic divide, the only way to survive is to adapt to the culture where the wealth is.