Tale of love and jealousy comes to Leamington stage

Hailing it as one of the greatest dramas of the 20th century, the company will bring Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge to the stage from tomorrow (Wednesday) to Saturday June 23.

Set in the 1950s Red Hook slum quarter below Brooklyn Bridge, where the inhabitants are mostly European economic migrants, illegal entry was a thriving business despite America’s strict immigration laws.

From this milieu Miller unearthed a true story on which he based his play.

Dockworker Eddie Carbone and his wife Beatrice have brought up their niece Catherine. Overly possessive, when Catherine falls in love with Rodolfo one of two illegal immigrant brothers, Eddie’s jealousy erupts and he denounces them to the immigration authorities driving the play to its climactic and tragic end.

Director William Wilkinson said: “What does this play have that will grab an English audience in the Midlands of 2012?

Does that audience in today’s troubled times want to experience, in the name of entertainment, a tragedy of Greek proportions, or of any other proportion?

In the case of this play, I firmly believe it will.”

He added: “This is a story not of kings or gods but of decent hard-working people caught up in a web of human frailties common the world over – its ingredients are universal and could occur in our own region today, particularly in close-knit communities.”

The company is advising people to book tickets as early as they can.

Online booking is open 24 hours a day, while the ticket hotline, 0844 493 4938, can be reached from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and tickets can be bought in person from Monday from the theatre box office in Victoria Colonnade.

Under 25s and NUS cardholders can purchase discounted tickets on Monday and Tuesday evenings.