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A View From The Bridge by Arthur Miller image (Themes (Jealousy: Eddie…
A View From The Bridge
by Arthur Miller
Lighting
(Designer: Chris Petridis)
When narrator was speaking, white, bright light. When Eddie met the lawyer, the colour was more green and unsettling
Key scene: Marco and Rodolpho in alleyway arriving - light was tightly focussed from above to create that setting
Key scene: during end fo Act 1 movement sequence, beam of light made it's way across the stage to demonstrate the passing of time
Key scene: Marco arrived with shadows and profiles against back wall; rear lighting to silhouette him
Catherine and Beatrice's scene featured warmer tones of lighting
Lighting was used to demonstrated time and place
Key scene: light was used to isolate Eddie as he reported Marco and Rodolpho to Immigration through moving lights and progressive blackout of rest of stage
No blackouts used
Set
(Designer: Victoria Lamb)
Levels allowed a variety of shapes for actors to utilise in scenes.
Imitated the shipyard at the start of the play and set the scene
The variety of boxes allowed for simultaneous scene to occur or other places to be shown e.g. when immigrants are on the ship or are upstairs in new apartment.
Rusty, metallic, etc etc. Matched Eddie's costume - Eddie's environment reflected in him and vice versa
The crates' s arrangement was a stylised skyline; a shipyard; a living room; alleyway, etc etc. Raised stage allowed for differentiation between outdoor and indoor spaces
Flexible staging due to boxes moving on ropes and being moved by actors
Key scene: Marco arriving to kill Eddie, boxes rose and made entrance more grandiose. Also when furniture is being flipped - both scene contribute to the destruction of the home
Once furniture is destroyed, it is never righted again
Key scene: when Eddie goes downstage to immigration, Alfieri is trapped upsatge in a cage-like structure
The solo chair was used to isolate Eddie from the rest of the characters e.g. in lawyer scene and in movement sequence
Costume, Hair and Makeup
(Designer: Enken Hagge)
Catherine
always wore pink and red hues; more skin and cleavage was shown during the play; more shapely costumes; wore heels to react against Eddie. Costume demonstrated her growing up. Hair was also used to demonstrate her maturity.
Eddie
was the working man - dirty, jacket used to showed furtive elements. Grey, colourless, dark. Minimal costume changes, representing how he is stuck and doesn't change.
Beatrice
wears blue. She is the mediator; perhaps she is.... blue? hehehehe
Marco
wore yellow; stood out from the rest; immigrant. Removed his jacket for final scene. Hidden strength, hidden body?
Rodolpho
wore brighter colours - red, purple, contrasted with deep red shirt, etc. Matched Catherine's colours.
Eddie's mates were also workmen; contrast with Alfieri who dressed professionally.
Sound/Music
(Designer: Jason Sweeney)
Key scene - when Marco picked up the chair, and loud, ominous strings and synths included to make the audience feel intimidated and demonstrate Marco's power
Subtly enhanced the emotional intensity of the scene - nondiegetic - increased tension
Key scene: when Beatrice was flipping furniture and the boom of the set pieces was amplified with sound effects that reverberating through the audience; as if the house was falling down around us
When narrator spoke, there were softer sounds to make it seems like a story was being told
Acting
Eddie
: Takes up a lot of space. When Rodolopho is speaking, Eddie is smug and condescending. Direct in his movement and voice. He becomes hunched and closed as he loses control. His voice as wavers in these moments. Wind has been knocked out of him.
Alfieri
: always in the background, watching as he is narrator. Calm, collected and considerate. Loses this when Eddie moves in his downfall direction.
Rodolpho
: elegant, carefree, 'Italian'. Light, flamboyant in voice and body. As relationships with Catherin develops, he begins to lead the dance.
Catherine
: free, large movements, indirect movement to demonstrate her childishness, This changed to more direct, grounded, slower as she matured. Lots of touch at the start of the play to uncomfortably demonstrate the close relationship. This changes over the course of the play. Eddie physically controls her.
Marco
: Grounded, deliberate and quietly powerful. he was like a rock. He was methodical and careful. Chair scene was a demonstration of his internal and physical strength compared to Eddie. Was always located on the floor.
Couple was often up high in the stage. "In the clouds" - Sam Herden, 2019
Beatrice
: Always trying to reach out and touch, Eddie would remove hand or get away. Perhaps Catherine learned from Beatrice? Or was copying Catherine?
Directorial Concept
(Director: Kate Champion)
From the program:
"As [Miller] wrote, 'It is curious, although edifying, that the play we revere, century after century, are the tragedies. In them, and in them alone, lies the belief - optimistic, if you will, in the perfectibility of man."
From the program:
Despite the play's propulsion towards tragedy, Miller wanted us to see more than the apparent hopelessness of the situation.
Related to modern life due to links to immigration as well as complex family dynamics; dating someone yoru family does not approve
Man's desire for control and the fatal flaw/downfall
Themes
Jealousy
: Eddie and Catherine's relationship
Judgement
: Eddie judging Rodolpho - 'He's not right'
Loss
: loss of Eddie in his death; Eddie thinks he is losing Catherine; Catherine loses innocence? Losing the nuclear family structure
Coming of Age:
for Catherine
Respect and Reputation and Pride:
Eddie's need to be respected by other people in his life; "give me back my name"; impacts of this pride inhibits ability for Eddie to properly listen; Marco's more powerful stance compared to Eddie; Eddie demands respect from women but doesn't give it back.
The rule of law:
there is natural law and legal law; Alpherieri says that if it is not int he book, it isn't law, but we all have social norms; e.g. when Eddie betrays Marco, he states that "in Italy, he would be dead". Also elements of religious judgement and law, such as when Eddie compared is action to the bible.
Gender Roles
: the role of male and females in relationships
Control and Power:
Eddie controls Catherine
Immigration
: the same narratives that are discussed in the play are still relevant today for our immigration debate
Love and relationships:
romantic love, lustful love, familial love, taboo love, etc etc
Isolation
: (due to one's actions)
Genre and Style
Genre: Tragedy
Tragedies are concerned with the protagonist's 'fatal flaw', which inevitably leads to their downfall from a lofty place.
See more information here:
https://www.britannica.com/art/tragedy-literature
Acting Style: Heightened Realism, a form of realism that elevates itself out of the mundane to allow for a more dramatically intense series of events.
