Helpmann Award winner Kate Champion’s electric new version of A View from the Bridge will come to the Dunstan Playhouse in July, the first Arthur Miller piece State Theatre Company has brought to the stage in almost 10 years.
Opening on July 16th, the landmark drama sits alongside The Crucible, All My Sons and Death of A Salesman as one of Miller’s greatest works.
A cast of Adelaide favourites including Mark Saturno (Vale, Blasted), Elena Carapetis (Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Macbeth) Antoine Jelk (Long Tan) and State Theatre Company newcomer Maiah Stewardson (Girl Asleep) will bring the explosive production into the new age.
Set in Red Hook, Miller’s 1955 masterwork has its centre in Eddie Carbone (Saturno), a longshoreman who Miller describes as having ‘eyes like tunnels’.
Eddie has pulled himself up from nothing, creating a life for himself and his wife Beatrice (Carapetis) and her niece Catherine (Stewardson) through sheer force of will.
Wanting to do the right thing by Beatrice and his community, he takes in two illegal immigrants from Italy – Beatrice’s cousins Rodolpho (Jelk) and Marco (Dale March).
When a romantic spark appears between Catherine and Rodolpho, Eddie is forced to wrestle with his shadow self.
A timeless story propelled by a man with a fatal flaw, A View from the Bridge is an exploration of unrequited love, abusive patriarchal power, the American dream and immigration.
Contemporary costumes by Enken Hagge, a dock-inspired set of heavy ropes and crates by Victoria Lamb and a soaring score by Jason Sweeney will work to create what Champion calls “a floating time capsule”, while still honouring ‘50s Brooklyn.
“This classic play, with its underlying themes of immigration and the contamination of a family unit by its forceful patriarch, is an alluring challenge for any director,” says Champion, who directed That Eye, The Sky for State Theatre Company in 2018.
“I look forward to discovering its rich and substantial relevance to our present day with this new production.”
Visit statetheatrecompany.com.au for details.
Dunstan Playhouse 12 July — 3 August
DIRECTOR Kate Champion
SET DESIGNER Victoria Lamb
COSTUME DESIGNER Enken Hagge
LIGHTING DESIGNER Chris Petridis
COMPOSER AND SOUND DESIGNER Jason Sweeney
ACCENT COACH Jennifer Innes
CONTACT IMPROVISER Martin Hughes
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Clara Solly-Slade WITH Elena Carapetis, Mark Saturno, Brett Archer, Chris Asimos, Bill Allert, Antoine Jelk, Dale March and Maiah Stewardson
