Arthur Miller's 1950s play, A View from the Bridge, has been much performed over the years, even as an opera. That presents a predictability problem for anyone who has seen it before, but thanks to Miller's way with drama -- and to the PRT's solid production values -- the play still retains considerable power and import.
Vince Melocchi plays Eddie Carbone, the Brooklyn longshoreman whose conflicted sexuality leads to his -- and his family's -- destruction. Eddie is not only fixated on his 17-year-old niece, Catherine (Lisa Cirincione) but is battling to control his dark, secret homosexual urges. (That aspect of the play got it banned by the British censors in 1956).
The object of Eddie's "forbidden" desires is Rodolpho (Jeff Lorch), the tall, blonde, somewhat dandyish Sicilian immigrant he has taken into his home, along with another illegal arrival, Marco (Satiar Pourvasci). When Rodolpho and Catherine fall in love and decide to get married, Eddie's complex, repressed emotions explode, with devastating and disastrous results. Ancient notions of honor and betrayal figure in the action as well, much to the dismay of the play's Greek-chorus-like narrator, the neighborhood lawyer Alfieri (Tony Zale, filling in on short notice), who has been powerless to prevent blood from being spilled.
The tragic theme of Bridge is explored in expert fashion by the PRT. Working on a realistic set by Staci Walters and Jeffrey P. Eisenman, the 13-person cast delivers strong, multi-dimensional performances (led by Melocchi, Cirincione, Lorch, Pourvasei and Melissa Weber Bales as Eddie's confused and much-suffering wife).
