clwyd theatr cymru

Arthur Miller’s

A View from the Bridge

Directed by Tim Baker
Designed by Mark Bailey

EDUCATION
WORKPACK
Devised by Jane Evans

The aim of this workpack is to provide students and teachers with a

greater insight into Clwyd Theatr Cymru’s production of
A View From The Bridge

The pack concentrates on our production with insights from actors, the
director, designer, production and technical staff and can be used as a
teaching resource in the classroom or for individual study.
CONTENTS

o Cast List

o The Writer’s View

o From Page to Stage:

o The Director’s View

o Creating a Character

o The Design Team

o Technical Support

o Stage Management Team

 CAST LIST
Mike - Roger Clark

Louis - Rob Dugay

Beatrice - Sharon Eckman

Rodolpho - Jonathan Forbes

2nd Immigration Officer - Rob Hughes

1st Immigration Officer - James Lauren

Catherine - Rosanna Lavelle

Eddie - Stephen Marzella

Alfieri - John Moraitis

Marco - Craig Rogan

Director - Tim Baker

Designer - Mark Bailey

Lighting Designer - Nick Beadle

Sound Designer - Kevin Hayes

Dialect Coach - Robert McDonald

Fight Director - Terry King

Choreographer - Rachel Catherall

Company Stage Manager - Michelle Jackson-Mogford

Deputy Stage Manager - Laura Corkell

Assistant Stage Manager - Kirsten Buchanan

Education Worker - Jane Evans

Miller on the Creation & Development
of “A View from the Bridge”

Extracts from Arthur Miller’s autobiography “Timebends”

The Beginning:
During a visit to Italy the play started to form in my head, but I was not yet sure
I dared to write about Italians as it would demand. All I was sure I understood
was that the difference between America and Europe was that Europe was full
of relatives and in America the pull of the blood connection was gone.

I began sketching what I called “An Italian Tragedy”, a probe into the
mysterious world of incestuous feelings and their denial, leading to a murder-
suicide. The trial of the play vanished before I could complete it, and I felt
defeated again. It was some five years before it re-surfaced as “A View from
the Bridge” in its original one-act form.

On stage in America:
After the play had been running a while the actors noticed a man who kept
showing up night after night in one of the front rows. He was deeply moved and
among the last to leave. One night an actor talked to him “I knew that family,”
he said, wiping his eyes. ”They lived in the Bronx. The whole story is true,
except the end was changed. The girl came in when Eddie was having his nap
and stabbed him in the heart.”
Of course, I knew nothing of the Bronx family, but what an ending!

A View develops:
I promised Peter Brook that I would revise it making it into a full-length play principally by opening up
the viewpoint of Beatrice toward Eddie’s gathering tragedy. I had originally designed it with the story in
the foreground, its appeal essentially to the mind’s awe at its amazing concatenations. But I thought
differently now, that it could move people too with pity for the protagonist and even identification with
him, a man who does so many unworthy things.

Crossing the water to Britain:

The Lord Chamberlain’s office announced that “A View “ could not play in a
British theatre because Eddie accuses his wife’s cousin Rodolpho of
homosexuality. No doubt because it was so widespread, if not yet accepted as
commonplace, homosexuality in 1950 could not be referred to directly on the
stage.

When Peter Brook’s production finally opened it seemed an exotic play to the
English at the time, especially when their own theatre was so middle-class and
bloodlessly polite. The reception to the press was very favourable, and the
acting community especially found it a sufficient challenge that within a few
weeks a large meeting was held at the Royal Court to discuss what might be
done about the condition of the British stage.
The Director’s View
My approach to directing A View From The Bridge has been less about directing
and more about facilitating the actors’ understanding of the script, as it is so well
crafted and so well written. This was true in the early phases of rehearsals; I felt I
was being really useful to the actors in unpicking the text; guiding them through the
rhythms or word repetitions, really concentrating on the meaning of the piece. Then
as we put it on to its feet the physical shape or the relationships in the space would
sometimes appear quite naturally. In other words, that’s the way the scene wanted to
be. This isn’t to say that I haven’t got a firm control of the production; it just means
that the text is so well structured that it would almost direct itself.

I’ve got a particular approach to this piece because I think I know Eddie; and I’m very
scared of the “Eddies” of this world. Control freaks are quite scary and sometimes we
do not realise this, they are prepared to destroy anything for their own needs, in other
words they operate on a level of ultimate selfishness. These are obviously my own
thoughts and as such might result in a darker production than another company’s; it’s
certainly not kind to Eddie. Obviously there’s a way of playing Eddie that is more
sympathetic, showing events happening to him; but that’s the mark of a good play, it
can have many different lives. I’ve been very clear to focus Steve (Eddie) on having a
breakdown, this being a result of his complete lack of understanding of anyone else
in the play, in particular the honour and respect of the Italians. My aim also is trying
to keep it incredibly simple, not because it’s targeted at young people, but because it
seems to demand that approach. I feel that the best job for the director and actors, if
the cast is good enough, is to let the play expose itself and give it the opportunity to
breathe. This is especially true with this kind of work and in theatre development of
this time. I felt the same when I directed other plays e.g. To Kill A Mockingbird and
Of Mice and Men. Maybe in ten years time the directors will want to get in there
more, but basically it’s hard to imagine a new interpretation of the play. I remember
when I was directing a play at the National Theatre someone asked, “How are you
going to do it?” my answer was “Really well I hope” rather than offering a particular
concept.

In addition to this piece being a well-crafted play, I also like the inclusion of a certain
technique, which I have used a lot in other pieces – the narrator figure; this works
particularly well for young people. They enter expecting to see something which has
a fourth wall, but then they have someone who breaks, who speaks directly to the
audience, Alfieri, and this offers them a connection to the piece.

Practical follow-up work:

Extracts follow which can be used in a directing exercise.
Each group needs one extra student to be the director, it is their role to create
tension in the scene by the delivery of the words and the movement of the
characters. They need to have a clear idea of the set, e.g. we know that the
apartment is limited in space, yet there are certain pieces of furniture that are
necessary.
SCENE SIX

EDDIE:
I'm goin', I'm goin' for a walk.

BEATRICE
Katie? ... Eddie, don't go, wait a minute. Ask him, Katie. Come on, honey.

EDDIE
It's all right, I'm -

BEATRICE
No, she wants to ask you. Come on, Katie, ask him. We'll have a party! What're we
gonna do, hate each other? Come on!

CATHERINE:
I'm gonna get married, Eddie. So it you wanna come, the wedding is on Saturday.

EDDIE:
Okay. I only wanted the best for you, Katie. I hope you know that.

CATHERINE:
Okay.

EDDIE:
Catherine? I was just tellin' Beatrice... if you wanna go out, like ... I mean I realize
maybe I kept you home too much. Because he's the first guy you ever knew, y'know?
I mean now that you got a job, you might meet some fellas, and you get a different
idea, y'know? I mean you could always come back to him, you’re still only kids, the
both of yiz. What's the hurry? Maybe you'll get around a little bit, you grow up a
little more, maybe you’ll see different in a couple of months. I mean you be surprised,
it don't have to be him.

CATHERINE:
No, we made it up already.

EDDIE
Katie, wait a minute.

CATHERINE:
No, I made up my mind.

EDDIE:
But you never knew no other fella, Katie! How could you make up your mind?

CATHERINE:
'Cause 1 did. I don't want. nobody else.

EDDIE:
But, Katie, suppose he gets picked up.
CATHERINE:
That's why we gonna do it right away. Soon as we finish the wedding he's goin' right
over and start to be a citizen. I made up my mind, Eddie. I'm sorry. Could I take two
more pillow-cases for the other guys?

BEATRICE:
Sure, go ahead. Only don't let her forget where they came from.

EDDIE:
She's got other boarders up there?

BEATRICE:
Yeah, there's two guys that just came over.

EDDIE:
What do you mean, came over?

BEATRICE
From Italy. Lipari the butcher - his nephew. They come from Bari, they just got here
yesterday. 1 didn't even know till Marco and Rodolpho moved up there before. It'll be
nice, they could all talk together.

EDDIE:
Catherine! What're you, got no brains? You put them up there with two other
submarines?

CATHERINE:
Why?

EDDIE
Why! How do you know they're not trackin' these guys? They'll come up for them
and find Marco and Rodolpho! Get them out of the house!

BEATRICE:
But they been here so long already

EDDIE:
How do you know what enemies Lipari's got? Which they'd love to stab him in the
back?

CATHERINE:
Well what'll I do with them?

EDDIE
The neighbourhood is full of rooms. Can't you stand to live a couple of blocks away
from him? Get them out of the house

CATHERINE:
Well maybe tomorrow night I'll
EDDIE:
Not tomorrow do it now. Catherine, you never mix yourself with somebody else’s
family! These guys get picked up, Lipari's liable to blame you or me and we got his
whole family on our head. They got a temper, that family.

[Two men in overcoats appear outside, start into the house.]

CATHERINE:
How'm I gonna find a place tonight?

EDDIE:
Will you stop arguin' with me and get them out! You think I'm always tryin' to fool
you or sump'm? What's the matter with you, don't you believe I could think of your
good? Did I ever ask sump'm for myself? You think I got no feelin's? 1 never told
you nothin' in my life that wasn't for your- own good. Nothin' And look at the way
you talk to me ! Like I was an enemy! Like I - [A knock on the door. His head
swerves. They all stand motionless. Another knock. EDDIE, in a whisper, pointing
upstage.]
SCENE FOURTEEN

CATHERINE:
You know where they went?'

BEATRICE:
Where?

CATHERINE
They went to Africa once. On a fishing boat. It's true, Eddie.
[BEATRICE exits into the kitchen with dishes.]

EDDIE:
I didn't say nothin'.

CATHERINE:
And I was never even in Staten Island.

EDDIE
You didn't miss nothin'.(CATHERINE takes dishes out.]
How long that take you, Marco - to get to Africa?

MARCO
Oh ... two days. We go all over.

RODOLPHO
Once we went to Yugoslavia.

EDDIE
They pay all right on them boats?

MARCO:
If they catch fish they pay all right.

RODOLPHO:
They're family boats, though. And nobody in our family owned one. So we only
worked when one of the families was sick.

BEATRICE
Y'know Marco, what I don't understand - there's an ocean full of fish and yiz are all
starvin'.

EDDIE
They gotta have boats, nets, you need money.

BEATRICE:
Yeah, but couldn't they like fish from the beach? You see them down Coney Island

MARCO:
Sardines.
EDDIE:
Sure. How you gonna catch sardines on a hook?

BEATRICE:
Oh, I didn't know they're sardines. [To CATHERINE) They're sardines!

CATHERINE:
Yeah, they follow them all over the ocean, Africa, Yugoslavia... [She sits and begins
to look through a movie Magazine. RODOLPHO joins her.]

BEATRICE
It's funny, y'know. You never think of it, that sardines are swimming in the ocean
[She exits to kitchen with dishes.]

CATHERINE:
I know. It's like oranges and lemons on a tree. 1 mean you ever think of oranges and
lemons on’a tree?

EDDIE:
Yeah, 1 know. It's funny. I heard that they paint the oranges to make them look
orange.

MARCO
Paint?

EDDIE:
Yeah, I heard that they grow like green.

MARCO:
No, in Italy-the oranges are orange.

RODOLPHO:
Lemons are green.

EDDIE
I know lemons are green, for Christ's sake, you see them in the store they're green
sometimes. I said oranges they paint, I didn't say nothin' about lemons.

BEATRICE
Your wife is gettin'the money all right, Marco?

MARCO:
Oh. yes. She bought medicine for my boy.

BEATRICE
That's wonderful. You feel better heh?

MARCO
Oh yes, but, I'm lonesome

BEATRICE
I just hope you ain't gonna do like some of them around here. They're here twenty
five years, some men, and they don't get enough together to go back twice
MARCO
Oh 1 know. We have many families in our town, the children never saw the father.
But 1 will go home. Three , four years 1 think

BEATRICE
Maybe you should keep more here. Because maybe she thinks it comes so easy you'll
never get ahead of yourself

MARCO
Oh, no, she saves. I send everything. My wife is very lonesome.

BEATRICE..
She must be nice. She pretty? 1 bet, heh?

MARCO
No, but she understand everything.

RODOLPHO
Oh, he's got a clever wife!

EDDIE
I betcha there's plenty surprises sometimes when those guys get back there, heh?

MARCO.
Surprises?

EDDIE
I mean, you know - they count the kids and there's a couple extra than when they left?

MARCO.
No - no ... The women wait, Eddie. Most. Most. Very few surprises.

RODOLPHO:
It's more strict in our town. Its not so free.

EDDIE
It ain't so free here either, Rodolpho, like you think. I seen greenhorns sometimes get
in trouble that way - they think just because a girl don’t go around with a shawl over
her head that she ain't strict y'know? Girl don't have to wear black dress to be strict
Know what I mean?

RODOLPHO
Well, 1 always have respect

EDDIE:
I know, but in your town you wouldn't just drag off some girl without permission, I
mean. You know what I mean Marco? It ain't that much different here

MARCO
Yes.
BEATRICE
Well, he didn't exactly drag her off though, Eddie.

EDDIE:
I know, but I seen some of them get the wrong idea sometimes. I mean it might be a
little more free here but it’s just as strict.

RODOLPHO:
I have respect for her, Eddie. I do anything wrong?

EDDIE:
Look, kid, I ain't her father, I'm only her uncle

BEATRICE:
Well then, be an uncle then. 1 mean.

MARCO:
No, Beatrice, if he does wrong you must tell him. What does he do wrong?

EDDIE:
Well, Marco, till he came here she was never out on the street twelve o'clock at night

MARCO
You come home early now.

BEATRICE
[to CATHERINE):
Well, you said the movie ended late, didn't you?

CATHERINE
Yeah.

BEATRICE:
Well, tell him, honey. The movie ended late.

EDDIE:
Look, B., I'm just sayin’- he thinks she always out like that.

MARCO:
You come home early now, Rodolpho.

RODOLPHO
All right, sure. But 1 can't stay in the house all the time, Eddie.

EDDIE:
Look, kid, I'm not only talk'n' about her. The more you run around like that the more
chance you're takin'. I mean suppose he gets hit by a car or something. Where's his
papers, who is he? Know what I mean?

BEATRICE:
Yeah, but who is he in the daytime, though? It's the same chance in the daytime.
EDDIE
Yeah, but he don't have to go lookin' for it Beatrice. If he's here to work, then he
should work; if he's here for a good time then he could fool around! But 1
understood, Marco, that you was both comin' to make a livin' for your family. You
understand me, don't you, Marco?

MARCO
I beg your pardon, Eddie.

EDDIIE:
I mean, that's what 1 understood in the first place, see.

MARCO
Yes. That's why we came.

EDDIE.
Well, that’s all I’m askin'.

(CATHERINE gets up and puts a record on the phonograph - Paper Doll.)

CATHERINE
You wanna dance, Rodolpho?

RODOLPHO
No, I - I'm tired.

BEATRICE
Go ahead, dance, Rodolpho.

CATHERINE:
Ah, come on. They got a beautiful quartet, these guys. Come.

EDDIE
What's that, a new record?

CATHERINE:
It's the same one. We bought it the other day.

BEATRICE
They only bought three records..........
Must be nice to go all over in one of them fishin' boats. 1 would like that myself. See
all them other countries?

EDDIE:
Yeah.

BEATRICE
But the women don't go along, 1 bet.

MARCO:
No, not on the boats. Hard work.
BEATRICE:
What're you got- a regular kitchen and everything?

MARCO:
Yes, we eat very good on' the boats - especially when Rodolpho comes along;
everybody gets fat.

BEATRICE:
Oh, he cooks?

MARCO:
Sure, very good cook. Rice, pasta, fish, everything.

EDDIE:
He's a cook, too ! He sings, he cooks ...

BEATRICE:
Well it's good. he could always make a living.

EDDIE:
It’s wonderful. He sings, he cooks, he could make dresses ...

CATHERINE:
They get some high pay, them guys. The head chefs in all the big hotels are men.
You read about them.

EDDIE:
That's what I’m sayin'.

CATHERINE:
Yeah, well, I mean.

EDDIE
He's lucky, believe me.That's why the water-front is no place for him [They stop
dancing.RODOLPHOturns off phonograph.] I mean like me - I can't cook, I can't
sing, I can't make dresses, so I'm on the water front. But if I could cook, if I could
sing, if I could make dresses, I wouldn't be on the waterfront. I would be someplace
else. I would be like in a dress store. What do you say, Marco, we go to the bouts
next Saturday night. You never seen a fight did you?

MARCO
Only in the moving pictures.
Creating a character

In this section six of the actors explain how they approached their character, from
pre-rehearsal stage to performance.

Stephen Marzella creating Eddie Carbone

John Moriatis creating Alfieri

Sharon Eckman creating Beatrice Carbone

Rosanna Lavelle creating Catherine

Jonathan Forbes creating Rodolpho

Craig Rogan creating Marco

These are followed by practical exercises on character development.

Stephen Marzella on Eddie Carbone
My approach to any role is mostly by instinct, I read through the play many times and
from that develop a feel for the character. If it’s right and the director likes it, then
that’s my starting point for that role; thereafter it’s collaboration with the director.

The earlier stages of rehearsal are used for familiarising yourself with the
environment, this was particularly true of this production as we rehearsed in the
performance space and with the set for the first two weeks, so we know the acoustics
of the space and how to use the set before the technical rehearsals. Obviously at this
time you are also learning your lines. Once those are in place then there’s time to
bring in some subtleties and more layers - thinking about your character’s thoughts
and feelings, before then you tend to be concentrating on remembering the next line.
Obviously rehearsals are about experimenting and we all (directors and actors)
approach rehearsals differently. I need guiding; I couldn’t work without a director. Tim
has given me a lot of options on how to play Eddie, allowing me to look at the
character from various angles. This is very useful and it means that the process is
collaboration. As an actor you have to trust the director, after all he’s the one who is
seeing the whole picture and so has an objective view. The actors of course are
subjective. It doesn’t matter if the director says do it this way if he’s right, that’s great;
when you feel they’re not right then it’s frustrating. Thankfully I’ve never been in that
situation. If the foundations are properly in place then everything will be fine, after all
rehearsals are about experimenting.
I tend to choose roles that I find interesting – regardless if the character is a saint or a
swine. There are different ways of playing Eddie, I played him six years ago and it
was totally different to how I’m playing him now, this Eddie is more aggressive.
Although Eddie is not a nice guy, he has lots of problems, I do like some of his
characteristics, I think you have to otherwise you have no sympathy for the character.
I feel Eddie has chosen to open the wrong door and by doing that has made the
wrong decisions, but there is a well-meaning side to him.
Tim sometimes says what a swine Eddie is because of things he does – and I agree
he can be very cruel but that comes from making the wrong decisions. I love playing
him; it’s a great part – big in emotion, which means it’s exhausting too.
John Moraitis on Alfieri
The role of Alfieri is an interesting one in many ways, one of which is that he is the
narrator and at times an actor in the play. This means, as narrator, he does break the
fourth wall by talking to the audience and that changes the reality for me; when you
are just an actor in a piece you can go on raw emotion, from moment to moment
taking your character on their journey from A to B. As narrator you are alienated from
the actors, they are working together but apart from the narrator, this requires me to
use a different approach – I’m the connection to the audience and steer them through
the story. When my character becomes an actor I have to make that switch; but
Alfieri is apart from the others, he is the sensible, listening advocate who observes
and reflects before making any comments.
He is an interesting character who has the accent and dialogue of the Brooklyn
people, the blue-collar working class aspiring to something. As a lawyer he is a bit
more refined, elevated from the working class, so I’m trying to do a subtle New York
accent.
I have found it fascinating how Alfieiri’s mind works – someone who is very well
educated and chose to stay where his roots are rather than leaving to go to the fancy
law firms and high earnings. To make that decision he must have compassion, there
must be something that pulls him to these people, connections to the past to his
Italian roots. This decision results in boring cases, but occasionally something
exciting will come along that connects him to his past. No matter how we change and
assimilate to become whatever it is to be an American there is a connection – our
roots. Alfieri does feel for Eddie, he is drawn to him and the case. The events are
profound – love, betrayal, love for children, incest and my character is aware of these
on an intellectual level, Beatrice on a primal level. He admires the passion borne out
of such a mundane claustrophobic apartment. It is fascinating talking to the audience
telling them this incredible story, an ancient Greek tragedy, a myth.
Sharon Eckman on Beatrice Carbone
My approach to Beatrice began by reading through the play many times, and then
concentrating on the scenes that include my character. I don’t do lots of research
before rehearsals as I find that it’s difficult to know how useful it will be. I came to
Beatrice with a certain idea; I felt I knew her extremely well from the moment I read
the play. Having said that I’m very much of the opinion that you have to experiment
with a part, there needs to be room to develop. Throughout the piece Beatrice wants
to save her relationship with Eddie, her anger changes to an enormous love that
overwhelms her, I always try to keep this line of thought in mind and see where I can
go with it. Love for someone can mean jealousy; fear, generosity, anger etc and all of
these emotions include many layers.
During the rehearsal period I have continued to re-read the play, especially my
scenes, and usually out loud until I understand completely what I am trying to
achieve with my character. This has meant a change of direction, but I like it, it feels
comfortable, my whole body changed and with that the quality of performance
improved. As an actor you have to try different paths until you find one that feels
right. I like to accept roles that excite me, ones with an element of danger that will
challenge me as an actor.

Rosanna Lavelle on Catherine

Having read the play a number of times I decided that Catherine was not too
complicated a character, she is innocent and most of my approach to her has been
by instinct, and from my own memories of being her age. This is not always true for
all the parts I play, it does depend on who my character is, and sometimes I feel a lot
of research is helpful. I did read more Miller plays and went to see a couple, this was
to help me get into the world of the play not to find my character. Another approach
to View was to talk with New Yorkers concerning the accent; I wanted to learn the
intonations and speech patterns.
On reflection I would have been happier had I learned my lines earlier, to be off the
book means you feel freer to explore your character during rehearsals.
Jonathan Forbes on Rodolpho
Once I knew I had the part I started reading through the play several times, to
familiarise myself with it. Then we went into rehearsals where I was getting to know
the work thoroughly, including learning the lines. My first steps into a new role also
include trying to find aspects of the character’s personality that match my own; and to
try to make my version of the character as true to the text as possible. Then it is a
case of reconciling the two, but the priority must be to be true to the text and the
character.
My opinions of Rodolpho altered during the rehearsal period, in terms of who and
what he is, there are many layers that I am trying to reveal on stage. In Sicily he saw
a lot of poverty, resulting in the people having limited horizons; this gave Rodolpho a
singular purpose in life, to be an American. When he meets and falls in love with
Catherine he has a second goal, to marry her.
Tim (Baker) wanted Eddie to be very dominant and I think this brings more colour to
the piece, emphasising the conflict between Eddie and Rodolpho, showing Eddie to
be ruled by his heart.

Craig Rogan on Marco

When approaching a new role I do quite a lot of background work. So for Marco I
read about Sicily and the Mafia, this gave me a picture of Marco’s home, which I
keep in my mind while I am playing him in the same way as Marco does because
he’s missing his family so much. I watched all the Godfather films trying to get the
atmosphere and accent. The Italian accent works against Marco’s character as it is
so lyrical and his character is contained, so that was a challenge for me. I also visited
some Italian cafes in London to observe their characteristics, but I think I do this
subconsciously rather than deliberately.
I try to imagine my character as an object; I think of Marco as a well – he’s deep, a
well of emotions, he contains everything. Another approach I use is to find one line
from my character, which sums them up; Marco’s line is “When you have no wife you
have dreams.” He doesn’t have dreams; instead he has children and a way of life
with a definite purpose.
Ideas for follow-up work on
characterisation
Using the text:
• Working in small groups and allocating one main character to each group,
the students look through the text for one line which encapsulates their
given character. Craig used the Marco’s line: ” When you have no wife
you have dreams.” This is then used as a title for a tableaux or freeze-
frame which can be shown to the rest of the class, promoting feedback
and discussions. Give the example of Craig’s line for Marco.

Physicalising the character:

• Each student stands in a neutral position, feet slightly apart and facing
forwards, shoulders relaxed, arms held loosely at the side. The students
are then asked to imagine that a length of string is attached to the centre
of their head and is pulled gently upwards, lengthening the spine. Also to
imagine that lengths of string are also attached to each shoulder, again
being pulled gently outwards, opening the chest area. This exercise is
part of the Alexander Technique and centres the body. Ask everyone to
ensure that there is limited muscle tension, as they begin to move around
the space staying in a neutral posture. Each student chooses a different
body part to lead him or her around the space, and then they decide what
type of character would walk in this manner. For example someone
leading with the chest could be full of self-importance; leading with the
forehead could suggest a worried person.
The Designer’s Approach
In designing A View From The Bridge my starting point was to drive the storytelling,
this was achieved by placing the focus absolutely onto the actors and the acting.
The play is like a Greek Tragedy, and when Eddie has taken the first step we know
where it will lead – there can be no going back.
We had to keep the action flowing, and so there are no scene changes or anything
that might break the pace. It is not a play about New York; it’s a universal story of
love, jealousy and the striving for the unobtainable.
My design places that focus entirely on the family, but always there is the presence
of the bright lights of Manhattan, the symbol of something out of reach, and
surrounding all this the neutral space from which the events are witnessed, a link to
the audience who are the ultimate witnesses of the tragedy.

The Director’s Use of the Set

There are different ways of working with a set design; sometimes there is an obvious
way of using the space. With this design, although I really liked it, I couldn’t quite see
how some of the scenes would work. Mark had given me a sort of raft, which is great,
but I knew there would be problems with entrances and exits, and a possible difficulty
with the convention of inside and outside and “can you talk through an imaginary
wall?”
Although I knew these were difficulties I was confident the answers would evolve
during the rehearsals, as we were able to work on the set from an early stage and
experiment with different ideas. Having the set in the rehearsal room also meant that
we could see the pitfalls of the scene where Eddie throws all the furniture off stage,
and could prepare ourselves for the consequences of this.

Follow-up ideas for Drama students

During the early part of the rehearsal time the wardrobe department compile a file
which includes all the rehearsal notes, research for all the characters’ costumes in
drawings or photographs, swatches of materials, the measurements of all the cast,
suppliers’ details and of course the wardrobe budget. On the following pages there
are extracts from this file, which could be used by students as resource material or to
instigate discussion on costume design.
 A View from the Bridge

Rehearsal Notes 7 Tuesday 7th Sept 2003

General
No notes today

Design
No notes today

Wardrobe
1 Mr Marzella has requested rehearsal shoes.

2 Beatrice only has half a page of snappy dialogue to change into her wedding costume.

LX
No notes today

Sound
No notes today

Stage Management
1 Mr Baker has requested that Terry King be asked to look at the fight at the bottom of p 64

2 Mr Baker has asked that we spin the mark up and rostra around as he wants the up stage
depth when rehearsing the fight sequence.

3 The little Christmas tree is to be set on top of the dresser during the interval.

4 Mr Baker has asked for something akin to an old shoe box to pack the Christmas decorations
into.

5 Please see second wardrobe note.

6 The fruit bowl will need to be made of some nonbreakable material as it is likely to go
flying during the fight sequence.

7 We need to be aware that the knife used on stage will have to be able to cut the apple and be
safe for the fight sequence.

Thank you. Laura Corkell DSM

e-mail: Tim Baker, Mark Bailey, Wardrobe, Kev Heyes, Wills, John Winne-Eton, Steve Williams,
Bob Heaton, Andy Williams, Caryl Carson, Jim Davis.
Paper: LX, Wardrobe, Wigs, SM x 4. (& photocopies).
 A View from the Bridge
Rehearsal Notes 9 Thursday 11th Sept 2003.

Production Manager
1 A DSL floor board has cracked. This is the area of the rostra where Rodolpho and
Catherine dance. I have placed a piece of red LX tape over the crack to identify it.

2 I have asked the company not to stand on the very SL and SR edges of the rostra when
they step on and off as it is making some ominous creaking noises.

3 A piece of furniture struck the rostra USR when Eddie demolishes the set and has
removed the finish exposing bare wood.

Workshop
1 Please see production notes 1 - 3.

General
No notes today

Design
No notes today

Wardrobe
No notes today

LX
No notes today

Sound
No notes today

Stage Management

Mr Baker has requested that we confirm the Mills Brothers version of "Paper Doll" is the
correct version for the play. If there is another version sung by four guys but recorded closer
to 1950, (The play was written in 1956 so we can't be later than that.), he would prefer the
more modern version.

Mr Baker has said that Eddle's newspaper will be scrunched up each performance.

We owe wardrobe a darning needle.

Thank you.

Laura Corkell
DSM

c-mail: Tim Baker, Mark Bailey, Wardrobe, Kev Heyes, Wills, John Winne-Eton, Steve
Williams, Bob Heaton, Andy Williams, Caryl Carson, Jim Davis.
Paper: LX, Wardrobe, Wigs, SM x 4. (& photocopies).
Rosanna Lavelle
Catherine

Corset
Bra
Cotton petticoat (machine washable)
Tights (hand wash – 1 pair per 2 shows)
Check Blouse (machine washable)
Check skirt (machine washable)
Strappy beige shoes (dyed)
Flat shoes (dyed)

White blouse (machine washable)

Bluish cardigan drped round shoulders (hand wash)
Flat shoes

Stripe blouse (machine washable)

Black ribbon tie
Red skirt (machine washable)
Black belt
Flat shoes bow

Wedding suit (dry clean)

Matching court shoes (dyed)
Hat
Beige gloves
The Choreographer’s Approach
My approach to choreographing the dance scene for A View From The Bridge was
to read the script and research the play from the Internet, reading past reviews and
information regarding the characters and period. During a meeting with Tim I was
asked for a natural dance of the time, a simple dance that two people slightly
knowledgeable in the style would be able to perform without too much difficulty. I was
then given the music – “Paper Doll” by the Mills Brothers, the timing of the piece is a
slow foxtrot moving into a quickstep. After more research I prepared most of the
moves, then started to teach the actors involved. I taught each one individually,
taking the part of the partner myself; once taught we ran it through many times until
they were both confident. The next call was with Tim and the other cast members
involved in the scene so we could incorporate the dance with the rest of the scene. It
is important in a scene such as this that the dance seems natural at all times and
does not pull the focus from the rest of the action. This rehearsal was the first time
that the actors had danced on the real stage, which is a wooden boarded deck.
Some of the steps were too heavy and loud and interfered with the dialogue.

Another problem that occurred was the size of the space available. Taking these two
problems into consideration I had to change some movements. The two actors found
it quite difficult to incorporate their dance with the dialogue. At this point Tim directed
the cast to deliver certain lines at specific points within the music to maintain the
pace and tension of the scene. It was very important that Rosanna (Catherine)
always looked as if she was involved in the text as well as the movement.
My final rehearsal was again with Tim and the actors, working the whole scene and it
was decided that another change was needed in the choreography as Tim felt the
original moves were distracting to the dialogue. The actors have to keep rehearsing
the dance steps without my input so they are completely confident of all the moves.
The Voice Coach’s Approach
There are three main reasons why every accent has its own unique character. One
is the shape on the inside of the mouth. This shape changes depending on how the
lips, tongue, face and jaw are held. The internal shape changes the placement of the
sound and how the sound moves in the mouth and this effect the quality of vocal
tone. For instance if you take words like ‘haunt’ and ‘talk’ and as you pronounce
those words you round and protrude your lips and drive your jaw forward and down,
the focus of the sound will come forward and the ‘ah’ vowel will change and you will
start to sound like someone from Brooklyn. Or when you pronounce words like
‘class’ ‘mad’ and ‘stab’, drawing the back of the tongue towards the back of the throat
will cause the ‘a’ vowel to become more nasalized which is characteristic of the
Brooklyn accent.

Another factor is vowel substitution. This means that the same word can use a
different vowel sound. For instance words such as ‘solid’, ‘fox’ ‘bomb’, which in the
Standard British Southern Dialect use the short ‘o’ vowel, are replaced in the
Brooklyn accent and use the long ‘ah’ vowel and are pronounced ‘sahlid’, ‘fahx’ and
‘bahm’. Then there are the consonants. One of the distinguishing features of the
North American accent is the sounding of the ‘r’. The Brooklyn accent an unusual
North American accent in that some ‘r’s’ are sounded and some aren’t. So the ‘r’
sound, which can sometimes sound like ‘w’ at the beginning of words, will often be
dropped in the middle of words, so a phrase like ‘I really regret not going to the
racecourse’, the ‘r’s’ at the beginning of ‘really’, ‘regret’ and ‘racecourse’ are
pronounced while the ‘r’ sounds in the middle of are dropped. Consonants such as
‘d’ ‘t’ and ‘n’ have the tongue flattened against the top of the mouth. Or to take an
example from the Italian accent the ‘a’ sound in ‘back’ uses an ‘e’ sound as in ‘bet’,
so it is said ‘beck’. And most short ‘i’ sounds in words such as ‘sick’ and ‘six’ use the
long ‘e’ vowel to become ‘seek’ and ‘seex’ respectively.

The third factor is intonation, stress and rhythm. Intonation refers to how much pitch
variation there is in a person’s speech. The Brooklyn accent is normally described as
monotone, which means there is minimal pitch variation. Stress refers to the words
we emphasize. The Brooklyn and Italian accent have characteristic stress patterns,
which cause them to stand out, and you may hear these differences as you watch
and listen to the play. Rhythm refers to how the speech flows, the speeding up, the
slowing down, and where and how often pauses are taken.

When we imitate an accent we make many of these changes automatically. My

focus as the accent coach is to ensure that the actors are aware of the characteristic
features of an accent, point out when they place the sounds in the wrong part of the
mouth, use the wrong sounds, or adopt stress, rhythmic or patterns of intonation
which are not true to the accent. Gradually these elements are perfected and the
accent sounds authentic. But sounding authentic is more than just ‘putting on’ an
accent. It means that the actor sounds as if the accent really is their normal way of
speaking, that it is in their blood. How we sound and who we are somehow linked.
When the actor discovers that the placement, the sounds, the rhythm and the
intonation, relates to the human being and reveals something about their
background, their environment, their internal state and temperament then they have
truly acquired the accent.
The Stage Management Team
As Company Stage Manager I am responsible for a team consisting of: Deputy Stage
Manager (DSM) and Assistant Stage Manager (ASM) and also look after the actors
and the director, and manage the budgets for the props and furniture.
The DSM sits in rehearsals with the script (or book) and notes in that all the actors’
moves (known as blocking). Other roles are prompting the actors, requesting any
props that are needed, and any sound and light effects decided in the rehearsals.
When the show is in performance they use the book to run the show - cueing light,
sound, actors, and backstage crew.
The ASM helps the SM to find props; set up rehearsals and during the run is then
responsible for the props etc.
This show has been relatively simple to assemble due to the simplicity of the set and
props; they support the show rather than dominate it. The designer works closely
with us as this stage, giving us pictures and detailed information of what is required.
For this show we collected the furniture from second hand and antique shops
(although we are having extra pieces made as it gets thrown about in the action); to
keep to the designer’s specific wishes took about two weeks. The rocking chair being
the most difficult, we had to buy an old bed chair, which was then converted into an
American rocker by our props department. The record player was found by using an
Internet auction site, the designer then chose his favourite and we put our bid in,
£2.00 and were successful. The turntable does revolve but the audience listen to a
CD not a record. Sometimes we need to do some research for a particular prop, in
this show for the matches. Everything has to be exactly right for the period of the
show. This can be quite difficult and takes time and patience.
Tim, the director, wanted Sicilian folk music to link the scenes and the only place I
could buy this was in America, so I sent for the music. Unfortunately the CDs had not
arrived in time for our technical rehearsals, so I eventually had to contact the Italian
Embassy, which led me to a site containing Sicilian folk music in sections of
30seconds – 1minute lengths, this was then recorded giving us our link music.
During technical and dress rehearsals I am the link between the actors, director,
technical crew and the DSM, but as this show is technically quite simple they went
quite smoothly.
Once the show is running I am responsible for setting up the theatre, checking all
safety aspects and ensuring the floor is swept and mopped so the production is of
the highest standard. In addition I check that the actors are all ready to perform
before the house music and lights go up and the doors are opened for the audience.
At the end of the performance the show report is written by the DSM detailing any
problems that occurred and then we prepare the stage and set for the next
performance.
As this show is going on tour I will be helping with setting the stage and checking
sound and lighting cues in each venue, along with booking accommodation for the
crew and actors.
A View from the Bridge

End