Theatre Review : Director Has a Clear ‘View From the Bridge’

In today’s social climate, it’s very hard to feel much empathy for Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller’s “A View From the Bridge.” Pity, yes, but not the sympathy that was his due when the play first opened in the ‘50s.

In director Andrea La Vela’s production at the Garden Grove Community Theatre, none of the emotional turmoil and pain is toned down to change this, and it’s a very wise choice.

Italian American longshoreman Eddie has raised his niece Catherine from infancy. Now she’s an adult, and Eddie still treats her like his little princess. Eddie is the only one who doesn’t accept the fact that he also lusts after her. He says she “walks too wavy.” He doesn’t want her to date or take a job. He wants her waiting for him when he comes home beat from work on the dock.

Miller has other things to talk about, like integrity and honesty and not judging a book by its cover. But like the protagonist in a Grecian tragedy, Eddie’s real flaw is that he can’t see his flaw. He destroys his marriage, the innocent love Catherine bears for him, the respect of his wife’s illegal-alien relatives who are staying with them and, eventually, himself.

La Vela knows Eddie’s world, the volatile Italian family ties and the rhythms of their emotional bumper-car existence. Jeff Branman knows it, too, and gives a fine, rigorous performance as Eddie, a tower of self-righteousness and self-pity slowly self-destructing.

Amber Hamilton is close behind him as the niece about to find the strength to break the glass case Eddie wants to keep her in. Hamilton’s slow, deliberate progress to Catherine’s maturity is touching.

*

Nick Gaitatjis gives an impressive solidity to the gentle assurance of the older immigrant brother Marco. Alberto Moreno, as the younger brother Catherine begins to love, effectively blends a sensitive Latin masculinity with enough poetry to make Catherine’s love and trust believable.

If Carrie Tigner appears too young for Eddie’s belabored wife, Beatrice, and doesn’t always have the emotional size Beatrice should have, she does capture the honest anger and sense of dignity in the role.

Bob Goodwin’s attorney Alfieri also has dignity and a genuine warmth but introduces an odd note by being too Ivy League for the grizzled waterfront lawyer who should have a more Old World comprehension of the storms that rage inside Eddie’s tortured heart.

In the scenic design by La Vela and Philip Weitzman, Eddie’s Brooklyn-tenement apartment and Alfieri’s dockside office both look too fresh and pristine to convey the world in this time and in this corner of Brooklyn, and Lee Schulman’s lighting design throughout is a bit bright. But La Vela has brought to the production insights that ring true.

* “A View From the Bridge,” Garden Grove Community Theatre, East Gate Park, Chapman Avenue and St. Mark Street, Garden Grove. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends May 14. $9. (714) 897-5122. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes. Jeff Branman: Eddie Carbone

Amber Hamilton: Catherine

Carrie Tigner: Beatrice

Alberto Moreno: Rodolpho

Nick Gaitatjis: Marco

Bob Goodwin: Mr. Alfieri

A Garden Grove Community Theatre production of Arthur Miller’s drama, produced by Christopher Knutson & Robert Kozlowski. Directed by Andrea La Vela. Scenic design: Andrea La Vela, Philip Weitzman. Lighting design: Lee Schulman. Stage manager: Patricia Toubail.