A View from the Bridge, Civic Theatre, Darlington

A TOWERING performance by Jonathan Guy Lewis as an ordinary man who turns into a monster makes this drama the high point of the spring season.

Tormented by taboo feelings he cannot recognise in himself, never mind admit, Arthur Miller’s play set in 1950s’ New York echoes themes found in Greek tragedy, but also raises issues about immigration.

The play is the fourth staged in Darlington under Touring Consortium’s partnership with provincial theatres, and is again a production of highest quality – intense, passionate and deeply moving – with first-rate performances by the professional cast and walk-on roles filled by a handful of local actors gaining invaluable experience.

In thrall to feelings that have moved beyond affection for the 17-year-old niece he and his wife raised from childhood, Eddie Carbone is gripped by anguish after giving sanctuary in his Brooklyn home to a pair of illegal immigrants from Sicily. Friendship develops between Daisy Boulton’s innocent Catherine and James Rastall’s exuberant Rodolpho, younger of the two brothers.

In a physically and emotionally charged performance, Lewis displays the disgust gnawing at Carbone’s innards which turns him into a domestic tyrant and the helpless suffering that ultimately makes him a figure of pity rather than scorn. 

Michael Brandon injects sorrowful narrative asides and issues sound advice as the seasoned lawyer Carbone visits. Teresa Banham is strong as the sensible and all-seeing wife Beatrice Carbone.

Backdrop vistas of the Statue of Liberty and telegraph poles contrast with the cluttered set and its confining attitudes.

Pru Farrier