Theater Review: 10/16/2008 A View From The Bridge, Guthrie Theater

The Guthrie Theater outdid themselves with their production of Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge. 

The elements that struck me as outstanding in the Guthrie production are the acting, the set design, and the story. All three of these elements meshed well together. 

A description of the play with story synopsis can be found at wikipedia. It's one of the great American plays.

The set beautifully captures the atmosphere of a Brooklyn in a time when ships were unloaded on the backs of men and not by machines. It is on these docks where the men distinguish themselves as men through their work and by their backs. The set shows a gritty and rough brick and concrete Italian neighborhood. The type of place where disagreements are settled with fists.

In the backdrop of the set is a likeness of the Brooklyn Bridge. It looks like a rough artist's charcoal sketch. I thought it kept the focus of my attention to the main set and the play. Had a more detailed backdrop of the Brooklyn Bridge been used, I could easily see myself losing focus of the play admiring the details of the bridge. 

The acting was probably the best I've seen at the Guthrie. Guthrie regular Nathanial Fuller, as the narrator Alfieri was outstanding, I'm surprised that he is an understudy for the role. John Carroll Lynch as Eddie Carbone gave the strongest performance in my opinion though. His performance was as good as I can remember seeing any artist's that I can remember. 

I was dismayed to see sparse attendance at the show. I strongly recommend the Guthrie's A View From The Bridge. It is scheduled to run through November 8, 2008.