STAGEHAPPENINGS.COM by Carol Kaufman Segal

STAGEHAPPENINGS.COM
A View From the Bridge
Review by Carol Kaufman Segal

A View From the Bridge by playwright Arthur Miller is the third show of Pacific Resident Theatre/s 26th season. It is directed infallibly by Artistic Director Marilyn Fox and Dana Jackson and features a cast of stupendous talent.

The play is about an Italian-American character, Eddie Carbone (Vince Melocchi), his wife Beatrice (Melissa Weber Bales) and their orphaned niece Catherine (Lisa Cirincione) who live in a run-down Italian community overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge. Catherine has been with Eddie and Beatrice since she was a very young child. Now that she has grown into a beautiful young woman, Eddie, who has always been very protective of her, seems more so and now appears to have incestuous feelings towards her. It seems that Beatrice, who never actually accuses Eddie, has suspicions regarding those feelings, particularly when he seems to have lost interest in her as a husband normally would have.

The people in the community are very protective of illegal immigrants. So when Beatrie’s two cousins Marco (Satiar Pourvasei) and Rodolpho (Jeff Lorch) arrive from Italy looking for a better life in America, they are welcomed (and honored) by Beatrice and Eddie to stay with them. Marco has a starving family in Italy who he hopes to be able to support through work in the United States before finally returning to Italy. Rodolpho is a younger man, much more inclined to be less serious. He loves to dance and sing, even likes to cook and sew. These qualities make Eddie feel uneasy about him, especially as Catherine and Rodolpho begin spending time together. His hospitality wanes, and he tries to convince Catherine that Rodolpho is “not right.”

Catherine and Rodopho finally decide to get married and Eddie, in desperation, seeks help from his attorney friend Alfieri (Robert Lesser, who also narrates the story).

Alfieri tells Eddie that there is nothing that he can do to help him, that there is no law against a young couple falling in love. His only alternative would be to report the two immigrants to the United States Immigration Service, and this is something Eddie cannot do.

At home Eddie continues to pick on Rodolpho and to insult him. Then he offers to teach him to box, giving him the opportunity to hurt him. In response, Marco challenges Eddie in a show of strength and when he proves that he is much the stronger, he lets Eddie know that he had better watch his step when it comes to Rodolpho.

Once again Eddie returns for help from Alfieri after seeing Rodolpho and Catherine coming out of her bedroom together. When Alfieri advises him to let love run its course, Eddie ignores him and calls the Immigration Service. He returns home to discover that, despite his urgings against Rodolpho, Catherine has decided to marry him. He also discovers that two more immigrants have arrived at their home and all four have moved into the apartment upstairs. When the immigration officers arrive, they arrest the four immigrants, but Marco breaks free, Eddie follows him, berating him in the street. When his friends and family realize Eddie betrayed the immigrants, he is no longer morally accepted by them.

Rodolpho is released and allowed to stay in America since he will be marrying Catherine. Marco promises not to harm Eddie and is, therefore, released on bail. Eddie refuses to attend the wedding and what ensues in the finale is related by Alfieri as he finalizes the narration of his story.

As previously mentioned, Marilyn Fox and Dana Jackson have directed this emotionally tragic play with perfection. The actors, from the main characters to the smaller roles, are awesome, but I have to highlight Melocchi as being especially outstanding. This is a play that anyone who really loves great theater should not miss.

I recommend it highly.

A View From the Bridge plays Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, Sundays at 4 PM, throughAugust 25, at the Pacific Resident Theatre, located at 703 Venice Blvd., in Venice. Tickets are available online at www.PacificResidentTheatre.com, or by phone at (310) 822-8391.