Writer: Arthur Miller
Director: Jemima Levick
Jemima Levick’s first production since taking the helm at The Tron, is one of a pair of Arthur Miller adaptations appearing in the city in the next few weeks, but is this mini-revival warranted? Do Miller’s much-lauded works still have a resonance down the decades to the present day?
With a promise of the American Dream in the Land of the Free, longshoreman Eddie Carbone gives shelter to his wife’s Sicilian immigrant cousins, Rodolpho and Marco. The arrival of the pair and niece Catherine’s burgeoning romantic relationship with Rodolpho, whom Eddie detests, brings to the fore Eddie’s repressed desire for his niece and forces him into actions that not only betray his family but bring about his downfall.
The action plays out on Alex Lowde’s spare, two-tiered set design scattered with plastic crates and garden chairs. It is neutrally designed to neither evoke a particular time nor place. and under Levick’s tight direction, there’s a life and vitality breathed into the work, adding to the timeless quality. Levick builds the tension subtly throughout, eventually grabbing the audience in a vice-like grip. It is almost palpable by the end.
While the issue of immigration looms large in the play, there is sufficient difference between the post-war boom in the drift across the Atlantic to a better life and the immigration issues of the present, that it is impossible to draw parallels. Eddie’s ever-growing animosity and actions towards Rodolpho have nothing to do with him being an immigrant, rather they are to do with Eddie’s own misplaced feelings for his teenage niece. Miller’s original themes of love and honour, remain.
The taught dialogue, in the hands of the fine company of actors, vibrates and resonates. Indeed the cast are, without exception, excellent. As Eddie a man “as good as he needs to be”, Mark Holgate never strays into histrionics, it is a strong but subtle characterisation of a man on an unstoppable path to his destiny. Of note too is Nicole Cooper as Eddie’s wife Beatrice, a woman who knows exactly what is going on but despite her constant efforts, never pierces Eddie’s armour enough to bring him to a place of admitting his feelings, a place from where he can come back.
To answer the question at the start, Do Miller’s works still have a resonance down the decades to the present? The resonance with modern daily life may not be there, but Miller’s stories of human lives and relationships, certainly still pull strongly at the emotions. A sure-handed start to Levick’s tenure at The Tron – a work of real quality. More please.
Runs until 15 March 2025 | Image: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
The Reviews Hub Score
A work of real quality
