Ensemble theatre stages Arthur Miller classic immigration tale

The Ensemble’s artistic director Mark Kilmurry has an eye for hit stage shows and when the revival of a historic play crossed his path he knew he had to have it.

Ensemble artistic director Mark Kilmurry. Picture: Adam Yip

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The Ensemble’s artistic director Mark Kilmurry has an eye for hit stage shows and when the revival of a historic play crossed his path he knew he had to have it.

The theatre is staging Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, an immigration tale set in mid-century Brooklyn.

“I was blown away when I saw this production at the Old Fitz produced by Red Line,” Kilmurry said.

“This is a stunning take on Arthur Miller’s classic play directed by Iain Sinclair with an amazing cast.

“I am thrilled we are presenting this again for our audiences to enjoy.”

The Kirribilli venue will stage Red Line’s production of A View from the Bridge. Picture: Ensemble Theatre

Mr Kilmurry believes that the play talks about issues which are still contemporary even though it was written in the 1950s.

It follows Eddie Carbone who is devoted to his wife Beatrice and niece Catherine. When Beatrice’s cousins Marco and Rodolpho enter the US illegally after leaving Sicily, they are welcomed into the Carbone home. But when Rodolpho and Catherine fall in love, jealousy starts to rear its ugly head.

During research for another work, Miller found his inspiration for A View from the Bridge. He heard about a story of a longshoreman who had ratted to immigration authorities on his relatives who were living illegally in his own home. This was to break off an engagement between one of them and his niece.

Marilyn Monroe and husband Arthur Miller at the Comedy Theatre in London in 1956 to watch his new play A View from the Bridge.

“This astonishingly lucid tragedy of ancient Greek proportions is purpose built by Arthur Miller to purify the audience in the time honoured way, by catharsis,” director Iain Sinclair said.

“The old gods have laws that extend far beyond those set down by mortal men.

“When fate chooses you, you had better get a lawyer, you better get a real good one. This is Arthur Miller at the top of his game.”

A View from the Bridge opens at the Ensemble on July 18.

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