A View From The Bridge Previews- Page 5

[wolfwriter2]

Posted: 11/12/15 at 3:01pm

I know I'm in the minority, but I didn't like this production, at all. Admittedly, I am not a big Arthur Miller fan, but this production was a mess that just left me cold. There is no genius, to me, of taking Miller's Greek tragedy and staging it as a pseudo-Greek tragedy, right up to the concluding scene.

The acting, save Mark Strong, who is good, but in a different play, is atrocious. The oft-mentioned accents, are not a case of creating a universal time and place. They are actors attempting to do accents, of which they are not capable. It is distracting and annoying. I don't think I would have noticed, had they just spoken in their natural voices. There is no way this is anywhere near Red Hook.

The director has done nothing to remove inconsistencies or create a 'relatable' atmosphere from the accents to the actors being barefoot ( except one, who, for no discernible reason, is barefoot, then wears shoes, then exits to remove them and returns barefoot). Maybe this director is not for me, as I see him as rather "gimmicky," but I appreciate that others see him as genius and respect that he did not take a conventional/expected route.

The critics will love this, as many here, have and I really wanted to, after hearing so many positive comments and reviews, but it left me indifferent.

Now, Incident At Vichy is an entirely different story and the Miller play that should be on Broadway.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/12/15 at 3:08pm

As a body, BWW posters are highly accent-sensitive.

[haterobics]

Posted: 11/12/15 at 3:43pm

I saw it and didn't really care about the accents. Had a good time there. I was more concerned that Tovey didn't get naked.

[wolfwriter2]

Posted: 11/12/15 at 4:14pm

Ha! At least he got halfway there. Maybe I would have liked it better :)

 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/12/15 at 10:01pm

OM Gosh, you guys.  Did you SEE what David Cotes's Time Out review said: "(well-coached on their Brooklyn accents)"

They are flouting this board's ruling.  They are just being contradictory for the sake of it!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/12/15 at 10:19pm

Ben Brantley does not even mention accents.  What is with him?

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 11/12/15 at 10:21pm

Namo, I saw that and thought the same thing! How dare he!

Brantley just posted his review and it's a rave. Granted, the Times review doesn't really mean all that much, but as far as I'm concerned this production is astounding, and I'm thrilled to see van Hove finally starting to get the widespread acclaim (at least in America) that he deserves,

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/12/15 at 10:53pm

I really can't stand Brantley but this is one of the rare reviews where he doesn't put in a couple of long paragraphs with extraneous garbage.  I can just imagine the rhapsodizing if Catherine were blonde.  Oh how he would have gone on.  

Grammatically questionable though it may be (has the Times no more copy editors?), I think he pithily sums up what is so particularly great about Miller's characters in this:
 

...[N]one of its characters are articulate, and much of the play’s power comes from the aching gap between simple words and vast and complex feelings.

 

Not having words, losing a name, this is the stuff of Shakespeare's fallen heroes and I think this production puts that in the center focus more intensely than even the LaPaglia/Janney version I loved in the '90s.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 11/13/15 at 12:36pm

Has anyone tried the general rush for VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE?  If so, where were you seated?  Thanks.

[indytallguy]

Posted: 11/22/15 at 5:49pm

I've never seen a production of the play before, so if I had, maybe the accents or the lack of place specific sets would bother me.

But I was stunned at the craftsmanship of every aspect of this production and the uniformly excellent acting. And the stage picture of the ending really encapsulated the entire story in a most compelling visual.

Was in row four of the mezz on the aisle and thought the view from there was great.

[nightcapriot]

Posted: 11/22/15 at 5:52pm

I thought that this was a great production and feel especially fortunate to have witnessed Mark Strong's searing portrayal of Eddie Carbone. Just a quick not on the on-stage seats: I found Alfieri's opening monologue very difficult to hear....but, otherwise, they offer a perfect vantage point from which to view the production. Re: Incident at Vichy - thought that it was brilliant, it should transfer and that Richard Thomas is one of the finer performers working today. I also thought that he was remarkable in Camp David at Arena as well as in Twelve Angry Men.

[HighFlyingAdored97]

Posted: 11/22/15 at 6:26pm

Not sure if there's a point to posting this since this production already opened, but I saw it Friday night and loathed it. I've come to the conclusion that Arthur Miller's misogynistic plays aren't for me, and the accents were distracting and obnoxious. The best part of the evening was finding out Bradley Cooper was in the audience.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/22/15 at 6:29pm

The moral compass of the main characters is a woman.

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 11/22/15 at 7:00pm

Saw it last week and did not love it- the drums in thebackground added nothing- nor did the chanting,  I was not moved- and I was expecting to really love it- loved Charles!!!, Hamilton and for pure entertainment- School of rock- was not moved by Fun Home, either- but it was okay and interesting- though I did not like the staging at all- seemed a little amateurish to me.

 

Updated On: 11/23/15 at 07:00 PM

[Jshan05]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 11:06am

Does anyone know if this will extend? Hoping to see it in March but as of now it's only playing through February.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 12:30pm

Highly doubt it. A) It's not selling well enough to extend and B) Fully Committed is going in there next, beginning 4/1.

[haterobics]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 1:55pm

HighFlyingAdored97 said: "The best part of the evening was finding out Bradley Cooper was in the audience."

 

I was front row, first seat toward the audience when I saw it, so I had a nice view of Anna Wintour watching the show.

[ElleCarter3]

Posted: 12/15/15 at 2:56pm

This play was amazing!

Do you think it will get any Tony nominations? Both Mark Strong and Nicola Walker really deserve one, thought they were incredible. 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/15/15 at 3:27pm

Not if the accent police have any say. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 12/15/15 at 3:28pm

Can accent police make citizens arrests?!

[Theater_Nerd]

Posted: 12/15/15 at 3:31pm

 

 

Has anyone here seen the 1962 film adaptation? I would love to obtain a copy. It was directed by Sidney Lumet.

[ElleCarter3]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 8:17am

Thought Strong and Walker had the best accents, at least they did during the performance I saw. Phoebe Fox' was a disaster. Don't know how she got cast, or even nominated for an Olivier award. Had a hard time understanding her and I was sitting on the stage.

Nicola Walker was definitely the best Beatrice I've seen. 

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 1/2/16 at 9:10am

What I loved about Fox's Catherine is how attached she is to the familiarity of her existence, to remaining a child for Eddie and to keeping the Eddie that wants her to remain a child.  I also loved her unique rough and gangly quality.

What didn't work for me was her accent, her poor enunciation (and I was also sitting on stage) and the way she played her confrontation scene with Rodolpho.  It seemed fixed on whether she could trust that Rodolpho loved her or was convinced that he is merely using her.  Sure there might well be some of that in the scene.  But I don't think that's really what the scene needs to be about.  

The two Rodolphos Catherine sees in that scene are not the one who loves and desires her and the one who is using her.  But the one who can solve everything for her by taking her away from Eddie and Beatrice and the one who desperately needs her to solve everything for him by permitting him to stay with, or at least near the family.  Catherine is at a crossroads of breaking with a family, Eddie and Beatrice, who are breaking her in two, and an Eddie who is emotionally incesting her; can Rodolpho help her to make that journey or does having him mean that she will never leave?

This is my only criticism of this great production (one more: I would have liked to have seen something clearer from Tovey during the kiss with Eddie... what it is could be many things, but something; I wasn't sure what he was seeing or feeling or thinking - which is not to suggest that Rodolpho is sure either, he probably isn't, but  even the uncertainty which could be so rich was murky).  I especially loved Nicola Walker's performance, the set and von Hove's exquisite shaping of Alfieri's presence and significance to the storytelling.

Updated On: 1/2/16 at 09:10 AM

[mamaleh]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 12:32am

Snagged a rush stage seat today.  Powerful, riveting theater.  I didn't have a problem with any of the accents except for Phoebe Fox's "wuhk"--an obvious British pronunciation of "work"--which she uttered more than once.   Still, the production was even better than the one a few years ago with Liev Schreiber, Jessica Hecht and Scarlett Johansson (for which the last won a Tony, as I recall).  The ending blew me away with its intensity.  Glad I decided to try for a stage seat.  As someone else said, with the exception of hearing some of the lawyer's speeches, that location provided a fantastic viewing and auditory experience.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 1/5/16 at 11:49pm

Just got back and loved it --- although I do agree with a PP--- the drums do get annoying - 

The end is hauntingly brilliant !