Stage Review - A View From the Bridge (Red Curtain Foundation for the Arts)

Stage Review - A View From the Bridge
Presented By: Red Curtain Foundation for the Arts - Marysville, WA
Show Run: January 17 - February 02, 2025
Date Reviewed: Sunday, January 19, 2025 (Opening Weekend)
Run Time: 70 minutes (including a 15 minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

A View From the Bridge. What bridge, you may ask? In Arthur Miller’s 1956 play, there’s no mention of a bridge, so surely there’s no significance to the title, right? Heck, at that rate, it’s not even a MacGuffin! In all seriousness, though, yes, there is no bridge that is either part of the plot, mentioned by any of the characters, or even implied. That said, it is likely that there are two bridges employed by the author in the play, one related to the physical setting of the piece, 1950s Brooklyn, and one in a more metaphorical sense. The story, you see, centers on the Carbone family, husband Eddie, wife Beatrice, and Catherine, or Katie, niece to Bea and whom the couple are caretakers to following the death of Katie’s mother, Bea’s sister. Watching the play is indeed like sitting on the Brooklyn Bridge and peering into this one particular corner of the borough, the Carbone house, the street outside, the butcher shop across the street and the law office in which Mr. Alfieri has his practice on the top floor. So, that’s one of the bridges. On the metaphorical side, that’s where Alfieri steps in. As the story’s narrator, his character is a bridge between the old world and new, having emigrated himself sometime around the turn of the 20th Century, applying his years of experience in life and his legal practice to the advice he provides to the Carbone family. So, yes, the audience has their view from the bridge, but they also get Alfieri’s view from his bridge. The play, which is currently running on stage at Red Curtain Foundation for the Arts in Marysville in a production directed by the theatre’s artistic director Scott B. Randall, is one of those stories that seems to be coincidentally timely with the current political climate in our country, and something that deals with a lot of hard truths that we all as a society need to come to terms with.

The setting is, as I mentioned above, 1950s Brooklyn, when a large number of Italian immigrants were looking to escape the hardships of postwar Europe in hopes of a better life of work and prosperity in America. It’s also a time when organized crime was rampant and opportunities were plentiful for those who were willing to come over illegally, be taken in by a host family under the cover of darkness, and work until they could pay off their “sponsors” before they would be left to fend for themselves. That’s the background for A View From the Bridge, in which Eddie Carbone is one of those who has agreed to host men coming over from Italy on a boat to find work, responsible for keeping them hidden from Immigration, and making sure they keep out of sight while also keeping their end of the work bargain. His family’s life is thrown into an uproar, however, when his latest guests arrive, brothers Marco and Rodolpho, who just also happen to be his wife’s cousins. Marco, having left his wife and children back in Italy, is mostly looking to make money to send back to them to help pay for their healthcare, while Rodolpho has other intentions. His goal is twofold, to become an American citizen and to make it as a singer, but when he takes a shine to Katie, and she to him, Eddie begins to wonder whether Katie isn’t just a pawn in his plan.

As I mentioned, A View From the Bridge is narrated by Alfieri, who is played here by Michael G. McFadden. Generally, Michael’s portrayal as the old world Italian lawyer is good, in fact when he’s in character in a scene, he’s very good. His narration, at least in Sunday’s matinee, was hard to discern at times, especially when he would trail off at the end of a sentence. It’s clear that he’s applying an accent, not exactly of the Don Corleone variety, but at least in the neighborhood, and that, along with the lower volume at times made his narration a bit tricky to hear, and in a play that really has a poignant ending, and a lot of context built around the narration, it could have been made even better had his monologues been completely audible. It wouldn’t take much more volume to make it work, but it does need some.

In fact, my only notes on the entire play are sound related, that being the first. The second is the sound of the floor in the living room of the Carbone residence. There’s no other way of saying it, but footsteps across the floor are just loud. Especially notable early in Act 1 when Deja Edwards, who was playing Katie during Sunday’s performance, walked across the floor in heels, her footfalls were louder than the dialogue on stage. Finally, there’s a general, I wouldn’t say echo, but more of a hollow sound to the acoustics in the Carbone living room, like they’re in a large space without a lot of sound dampening. That, though, is something that is quickly gotten used to, and I’ll tell you why; because just about everything else in this play is that good.

Yes, from the set, to the lighting and costumes, and especially the acting, this is an extremely well designed, produced, and performed piece of theatre. The set itself is wonderful. Outside of the aforementioned sound challenges, the layout and construction of the set, also from Scott Randall, as is the lighting design, flows beautifully, from the Carbone apartment, which has its own nicely designed flow, to the street outside the house, through the butcher shop across the way and up to Alfieri’s law office, it’s laid out like a scaled version of a neighborhood, with all of the important parts for the storytelling, and Scott takes advantage of the flow for the movement of his actors throughout the play. One thing I would caution the actors on, though, is leaving the front door to Carbone’s building open when they walk through, there’s a little too much backstage that can be seen through there, and realistically the exterior door would be one that would be closed each time anyone walked through it. Scott’s lighting is on point as well, especially in Act 2, in a major climactic scene between Eddie and Rodolpho, that not only features the lighting, but also some outstanding fight choreography from Ken Michels. In fact, the play calls for a decent sized creative team to make it work, beyond just the standard suspects.

Immediately upon meeting Rodolpho, there is tension between him and Eddie. Eddie is overly protective of Katie, potentially a little too protective, there are lines that he surely skirts when it comes to his relationship with her. And the closer she and Rodolpho get, the more tension there is between the two men. In one scene, Eddie is trying to one up the more artistic Italian by teaching him how to box, and with the help of boxing coach Brandon Tiehen, the scene jumps off the stage. Bringing this team of people in to help put the play together drives the emotional realism of the piece, and that goes for vocal delivery as well. Marco and Rodolpho have Italian accents that are both different, yet each impressively delivered. The Carbone family, especially Eddie and Beatrice, have excellent Brooklyn accents, credit on all of these to dialect coach Grace Hemcke, and of course to the cast on their delivery. And full marks to Morgan Peeler as Eddie for never losing his accent, no matter how emotional his character gets, and boy, does he get emotional in this play.

The performance by Morgan as Eddie is, in a word, stellar. Eddie is a troubled individual, to say the least, he’s got a questionable relationship with the girl for whom he is responsible, he has no problem working with criminal organizations to help bring in men from overseas to work at the docks, and he’s not exactly inclined to support anything he doesn’t understand. What is that saying, "Quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand. Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand”? That’s Eddie in a nutshell, as his concern over the relationship between Rodolpho and Katie grows, he focuses in on what makes the Italian different, which is his artistic flair, which makes Eddie claim that Katie’s new boyfriend is just “not right”, and it’s all too clear what he means by that. It’s not easy to play someone so vile as Eddie becomes in A View From the Bridge, but Morgan frankly steals the show with his performance. He’s Archie Bunker and Ralph Kramden, but even more so, and when he gets angry, he gets furious, and his targets are plenty. I absolutely love this portrayal, it’s one of the most emotionally charged and at the same time difficult to watch performances that I’ve seen on stage in the past few seasons, and it’s a real achievement.

Playing opposite Morgan is Britta Grass as Eddie’s wife, Beatrice. Bea is strong, a caring mother figure for Katie. In fact, as much as Eddie claims to care about Katie, it’s Bea who stands up for her when she receives a job offer and wants to accept it, not Eddie. I like Britta in this role as well, as the foil for Eddie, but also in the way she manages the character when things heat up between the two as a result of the Rodolpho situation. The character of Katie is played by two actors on different nights, Deja Edwards, whom I saw on Sunday, and Paige Harvey-Barringer. Deja brings a freshness to Katie, a young energy that fits the role, and her chemistry with Adam Nyhoff, who plays Rodolpho is very good. And speaking of Rodolpho, keeping up with Morgan’s performance requires an actor with a good amount of energy, which is why casting Adam here is indeed a coup. Adam brings so much exuberance to his character, his accent is wonderful, his mannerisms are exactly what you’d hope for, and every emotion, from his joy, to his sadness, are played without a flaw. His scenes with Deja are very good, but his scenes with Morgan are just something special to see. Brother Marco isn’t featured quite so much, but Daniel Hanlon does a fine job with the role, and it’s an important one for the story, Daniel playing it very strongly.

Beyond the leads is a cast that does more than just fill out the ensemble. Each adds something to their character and the story. Joey Tirado and Marco Rice play Louis and Mike, longshoreman friends of Eddie’s, while Marc Barringer plays Tony, a family friend of the Carbones, who helps transport the brothers from the boat to Eddie’s apartment. Richard Morris and Michele Palmer are Mr. and Mrs. Lipari, the butcher and his wife who live upstairs from the Carbones, and who also have some “stowaways” in their apartment, James Christensen and Angel Gao play immigration officers, while Max Moore, Westley Calkins, Autumn Owens, and Quinne Everett round out the cast. This group is good in supporting what are some truly outstanding performances, especially from Morgan and Adam, and it’s an ensemble that overall does very well together to help deliver a show that seems to hit just about all of its marks.

A View From the Bridge is a hard hitting emotional drama filled with tension and turmoil, a story that seems strangely applicable to our current political and social climate. The play tackles a lot of issues that we all can do well to contemplate, and thanks to spectacular performances from Morgan Peeler and Adam Nyhoff, audiences will leave with plenty to think about, and plenty to enjoy along the way. It’s not an easy play to watch, but some of the best art is at times difficult and challenging, and this production from Red Curtain Foundation for the Arts is indeed some of the best art currently on stage in the area.

A View From the Bridge, presented by Red Curtain Foundation for the Arts, runs on stage through February 2 in Marysville. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://redcurtainfoundation.org/.

Photo credit: Kenny Randall