THE centenary of US playwright Arthur Miller's birth is being marked by a new touring production of A View From The Bridge which arrives at Darlington Civic Theatre next week.

A dark, passionate and deeply moving tale set among the Italian immigrant community in 1950s' New York it ranks as one of the classics of our time.

In this Touring Consortium Theatre Company production, Jonathan Guy Lewis, a stalwart of British TV drama, plays Eddie Carbone, the Brooklyn dock worker obsessed with his 17-year-old niece Catherine.

When she falls in love with a newly arrived Sicilian immigrant, his jealousy, sexual repression and homophobia erupt in a rage that consumes his family and his world.

Lewis's TV credits include Soldier, Soldier, London's Burning and Coronation Street. He his joined by fellow television favourite Michael Brandon (Dempsey & Makepiece, Mr Selfridge, Hustle, Doctor Who) and Teresa Banham (Vera, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Silent Witness).

Also in the cast is a small group of local actors who auditioned for the Darlington leg of the tour.

A View from the Bridge runs at the Civic from Tuesday to Saturday, March 21. Tickets start at £17.40.