‘A View from the Bridge’ Now Open at Pierson Playhouse

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Performances of Theatre Palisades’ latest show, “A View from the Bridge,” are now underway—and it is leaving audiences captivated from start to finish.

“Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman, makes room in his home for two of his wife’s cousins that have been smuggled into the country,” read a synopsis of the play, which was written by Arthur Miller. “When one of the men falls in love with Catherine, Eddie’s teenage niece he raised as his own, a jealousy takes hold in Eddie that can only lead to tragedy.”

The two-act play is set in and around Carbone’s apartment in Red Hook, which is “on the Bay seaward from Brooklyn Bridge.” It is set in December 1955.

The show is directed by Cate Caplin, and produced by Martha Hunter and Sherman Wayne.

“A bridge represents an in-between space—space that does not fully belong to either of the shores it connects,” Caplin wrote in a director’s note. “Each character in ‘A View from the Bridge’ offers a perspective from his or her own personal bridge straddling two different worlds: Italy and the United States, childhood and adulthood, [and] old world cultural traditions and ‘new world’ opportunities … ”

Each of the cast members approaches the performance with the same level of commitment and intensity—the best way to describe it is that seeing them come together on the stage felt like watching a movie. At some points of the show, I felt myself gripping them armrest, wondering what would come next.

The play is narrated by a lawyer, Alfieri, played by Jason Culp, who looks like he was plucked from a television show courtroom—his casting could not have been better. With ample foreshadowing, the audience knew things would go wrong, but how wrong would they get? (No spoilers here, but pretty wrong).

The three main members in the family unit—Eddie (Peter Gregory), Catherine (Isabella DiBernardino) and Beatrice (Maria O’Connor)—are convincingly believable in their respective roles. Eddie and Beatrice as husband and wife, aunt and uncle to Catherine, who was born and raised by the couple after losing her parents.

The three of them also deliver equally impressive performances: As the play comes to an end, Gregory acts and looks like a different person than he was at the start, letting the audience see his character fully unravel.

I cannot imagine the role of Catherine was easy to undertake—as the character is in several uncomfortable situations—but DiBernardino nails it, taking a role that is meant to be dramatic, but not making it over the top, a balance that can be hard to strike.

O’Connor is no stranger to the Theatre Palisades stage, as a producer (“Bell, Book & Candle”) and an actor (“Towards Zero,” “A Comedy of Tenors”), and while her undertaking of Beatrice is excellent as a standalone performance, it also is fun for a person who attends multiple shows to see her full depth as an actor through her varying roles.

Darren M.B. (Marco) and Monty Renfrow (Rodolpho) are cast as Beatrice’s cousins, two characters who have opposite approaches to their arrival and role in America, giving a glimpse into two very different experiences. (Bonus: Renfrow can really sing!)

The cast is rounded out by Eric Shaffer (Tony, Immigration Officer), Christopher Landis (Mike), Joshua Farrell (Immigration Officer), David T. Downs (Immigration Officer) and Andrew Chase (Louis).

The heart that the cast and crew put into this show to make it entertaining from start to finish is quite apparent from a seat in the audience.

Performances of “A View from the Bridge” will run through April 28 at Pierson Playhouse, located at 941 Temescal Canyon Road. Shows are Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m., as well as Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $22 for general admission, $20 for seniors and students.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit theatrepalisades.org or call 310-454-1970.