View From a Bridge - Response.
Coursework - View From a Bridge
Response
A View From The Bridge was written by Play Wright Arthur Miller. It is set in the 1950's in Brooklyn, New York and based around a working class Italian American community, and details the happenings when a longshoreman's family harbours two Sicilian cousins who have illegally entered the United States. After WW2 many European countries were left completely devastated, Italy was one of these countries. After the war there was a lack of jobs, food and money so many Italians emigrated to prosperous countries like America. However asylum was hard to get so many illegally emigrated. Once in America most immigrants lived in the slums, working poorly paid and inconsistent jobs. Both of Arthur Miller's parents emigrated to the United States and after the Wall Street Crash he spent the rest of his youth living in poverty and working as a warehouseman. This I believe influenced the writing of A View From The Bridge.
The central characters in the play are Eddie Carbone a longshoreman, his wife Beatrice, their niece Catherine and Beatrice's two Sicilian cousins Marco and Rodolpho. In the play crisis develops when Catherine and illegal immigrant Rodolpho fall in love and Eddie finds himself unable to cope with an inner-violent reaction he doesn't understand. Eddie believes he is a good man, a father, a husband and a provider. However he is unable to control his jealousy resulting in him breaking the unspoken 'code of honour' and reporting them to the immigration bureau and then facing the wrath of Marco.
This was the first time I had encountered A View From The Bridge and in order to understand it's context and the background of the characters more I research on the internet Italian immigration to America and the culture of Italian Americans. I found that the role of husband and wife were very different to the role today. The husband for example was expected to provide financial support for the family, as Eddie does with his job on the docks. The wife however is expected to serve and obey her husband and provide emotional support for the family. I also found that the Italian culture and religion (Catholicism) meant they had strict rules on sexual behaviour and strong moral about what was right and wrong. I also discovered that honour was a very important part of the Italian and Mediterranean culture and that brotherhood and community were very important and to be treasured and protected.
The issue of immigration that this play contains is relevant to today's society as we see headlines in papers and news stories telling us about the problems of illegal immigration, the difficulty of achieving asylum and the discrimination asylum seekers face once in Britain.
We began to study the play by reading Alfieri's speech at the very beginning of the first scene. After reading this scene, as a group we discussed the different issues and themes he raised in the speech: -
These are all themes we believed might occur in the play. We also discussed how by opening the play with Alfieri as the narrator might cause the audience to share Alfieri's perspectives of the events that occur and his view of the characters. For example the way in which Alfieri introduces Eddie suggests that he identifies Eddie as the hero and victim of this tragedy.
Another scene we read was the 1st scene of act one. Within this scene we are introduced to 3 of the main characters, Eddie, Catherine and Beatrice. In order to help us understand the characters more we did a brainstorm of our first responses to them. To develop our responses, we looked at both the text and stage directions to find what information they gave us about the characters. For example from the way in which Catherine runs her hands over her skirt and walks 'wavy' for Eddie at the beginning of the scene show that she is very manipulative and scheming.
Within this scene we also looked further into the status of the characters and the differences between male and female roles. For example this scene, although it may not be about him, revolves around Eddie sitting in his rocker shows that Eddie has the highest status in this family. The fact that Beatrice and Catherine have to get his permission for everything also proves this. From this scene you also get the idea that Eddie has quite a high status within his community, however within society he has no status to speak of, he is the 'trash' of America. In order to develop the characters even further I wrote a Catherine's diary entry for how I believe she may have been feeling after this scene;
'I'm so happy I could probably burst. This morning I was called into the principals office and he told me there was a company who needed a stenographer and because of me being the best in the class he was offering me the job. Who would have thought it, out of the whole class I was picked. But the good new didn't stop there as the job pays 50 dollars a week, I can't even begin to imagine what I would do with all that money. After school had finished I ran straight home to tell Bea, it ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
'I'm so happy I could probably burst. This morning I was called into the principals office and he told me there was a company who needed a stenographer and because of me being the best in the class he was offering me the job. Who would have thought it, out of the whole class I was picked. But the good new didn't stop there as the job pays 50 dollars a week, I can't even begin to imagine what I would do with all that money. After school had finished I ran straight home to tell Bea, it was then that a cloud passed over my happiness, it was then I remembered I would have to tell Eddie. If Eddie said no that would be the final work. So, I put on my new skirt, done my hair and got ready to plead with him. At first he made up all the usual excuses like he didn't like the area and that I needed to stay at school to get my qualification. But my dear Eddie is not a mean man and eventually he came round. He can be so considerate and sweet at times'.
A further scene we studied was the end of Act One, this scene contains the 5 main characters. With this scene we focused mainly on the stage directions, through the stage directions and subtext of this scene lots more information about the relationship between the characters is given. This is also the scene where the whole of act one climaxes, however not through text but through body language of the characters and the stage directions. In order to focus on these two aspects we had to do a still image of the last moment of tension in this scene. After we did some forum theatre where we looked at other groups still image and gave our own opinions on how we would change characters position on in order to create more tension.
We also studied a number of other scenes from A View From The Bridge. These included the scene in which Bea and Eddie wait for Catherine after her first date with Rodolfo. During the studying of this scene we were introduced to the idea of blocking the scene in order to track the different emotions characters feel during different parts of a scene. We also studied the Kiss Scene; by focusing on this scene we could see how the relationship between different characters had changed. A final scene we studied was the scene in which Rodolfo apologises, within this scene we looked at how the characters had developed since our first response to them and looked further into the Italian culture by looking at the importance of Rodolfo's kiss. We also looked at the way Eddie and Beatrice react in this scene show about their relationship.
Beatrice
Eddie
- 'Middle man' - tries to bring things together.
- Question about sex in the marriage is crucial
- Wearied - gives up, 'okay'
- He want it to be his house and his rules
- Concealing a fear
- His opinion has to be accepted, 'Because I know'.
- Jealous
- Upset - emotional/cries
- Too proud to say sorry
Development
We then had to divide the 5 different scenes we had studied between the different groups in our class. My group took the final scene of Act One. We chose this scene because within it a lot of tension is built up and it is the scene in which the whole of Act One climaxes, so we thought it was a very important and defining scene within the play. Our group had also enjoyed the session in which we had studied this scene and we liked the fact that the tension within the scene does not only come from the text but is also built through body language and emotions of the characters and stage directions. A final factor, which influenced our group to choose this scene, was the fact that it was the only scene that we studied, which contained all 5 characters and therefore focused on the relationship between Eddie and Beatrice, Eddie and Catherine, Eddie and Marco, Eddie and Rodolfo, Catherine and Rodolfo, Rodolfo and Marco and Catherine and Beatrice.
In this scene I decided to play Catherine. I chose this character, as I was interested in exploring the relationship she has with Eddie. I also liked her in this particular scene, as she is quite defiant and bold.
Before beginning rehearsals I carried out some research about costume my character may have worn.
Above are some examples of women' clothes from the 1950's. The black dress is more party wear, while the yellow dress and cardigan were more casual wear. Catherine's costume may have been more revealing than these examples as she was very young and seductive.
When we first begun rehearsing we decided that we did not want to rush in to fully acting out the scene but to reach that point by going through different stages of rehearsal. We started by reading the scene once through with no acting or emotions, this was to familiarise ourselves with the scene again. We then read it through again trying to add real emotions to our characters lines. In our next rehearsal we began to act out the scene following only basic stage directions and trying to keep in the role of our character. In the next rehearsal time we decided to a floor plan and characters proxemics. Here is our first floor plan: -
For the proxemics we decided that Eddie would be sitting in his rocker, stage front as this is a mark of his status in the house and in this scene. We also decided that everyone else should be positioned behind him, as the fact he would have his back slightly towards them would represent his current mood. We also wanted Beatrice hear him, to show the closeness Beatrice wanted in their relationship and Catherine and Rodolfo when quite far away from Eddie's rocker, to increase tension but in Eddie's eye line to show Catherine's defiance. We then position Marco round the dinner table in the middle of the stage between Eddie and Beatrice and Catherine and Rodolfo, to represent the fact he is neutral at the beginning to this scene and how this changes when he move towards Eddie and the climax of the scene.
For the final performance the floor plan and characters proxemics changed slightly. This was because teachers had already set up a basic floor plan on the day and when reading the scene before we found that the characters had just had dinner. We there for used the following floor plan: -
We kept Eddie in his rocker but decided to position Beatrice, Marco and Rodolfo round the dinner table, with Beatrice nearest to Eddie, Marco in the middle and Rodolfo nearest to Catherine. My proxemics were kept the same and so was the place where Catherine and Rodolfo danced as we thought this was effective.
During the rehearsal process we I also used a number of different techniques and skill so develop both my character and the scene which my group were acting out. These consisted of: -
- Hot seating - In order to develop the understanding of my character and the emotions of my character our group carried out the activity hot seating. Also in class I was interview as my character. Here are some of the questions asked and my responses.
Q - Do you think the relationship with Eddie is slightly unhealthy?
A - No, what is unhealthy about it. Eddie is very good to me; he is like my father, so of course I love him. But I love him as a father and nothing else.
Q - Why do you think Beatrice is jealous of the relationship you have with Eddie?
A - She is jealous because I can keep Eddie happy and she can't. She isn't a proper wife to Eddie otherwise she would know when he is in a bad mood, when he wants cheering up and when he wants to be left. But she doesn't and I do.
- Still images - To help us understand the scene and the point of tension in the scene we broke it down into still photos of the 5 key moments. These were are 5 key moments; 1) When Catherine and Rodolfo begin dancing for the first time under the watchful gaze of Eddie. 2) Eddie's speech, where he unconsciously twist the newspaper with anger. 3) When Eddie punches violently Rodolfo. 4) When Eddie is unable to lift the chair. 5) Marco lifting the chair above Eddie.
- Development of Voice - To develop the volume and tone of my characters voice we carried out an exercise where had to pick one of our characters lines and speak it with the different emotions they feel during the scene, for example with anger, sadness, happiness.
- Seeking the emotion - To help seek in the emotion in the scene I used technique of blocking a scene. For my character I blocked the scene into three different parts, in which my character had three different emotions. For my character the three different parts and different emotions were; 1) The first part of the scene, consisting of her dancing with Rodolfo. In this part of the scene she is very rebellious and defiant, not caring what Eddie thinks or feels. 2) The middle of the scene where he offers to take Rodolfo to a boxing match. In this part of the scene Catherine is happy and relieved that Eddie is being friendly and accepting towards Rodolfo. 3) The End of the scene, in which Eddie punches Rodolfo. Here my character is angry with Eddie for acting so violently towards Rodolfo.
- Learning lines - I learnt my lines very early on in the rehearsal process. By learning my lines I was able to capture the real emotions of my characters more as I did not have to keep my eyes on a script. I was also able to follow stage direction more effectively.
- Physicality and Facial expression - To develop my character physically, as a class we carried out a basic activity where we walked as our character. During this activity at times we had to greatly exaggerate our movement in order to capture the physicality of our character easier.
- Development of interpretation of character - By working with other people, sharing our work with others and watching others work in the style of forum Theatre I was able to develop my character by getting other people's view on the emotions they thought my character experienced and how the express these emotion, the physicality and facial expressions of my character during the scene and my characters proxemics and voice.
Evaluation
One the whole I think my personal performance for our final piece was satisfactory, but there were areas I could have improved in. I learned my lines for the final performance and because of that I felt I was able to get into character much more easily as with out reading the script I could express the real emotions my character was feeling, follow stage directions and interact with other characters in my piece to a much higher standard. I also felt as an audience member watching someone reading without a script was much more enjoyable and their characters much more believable than those who had not learnt lines. I also felt that through a number of physical techniques we had carried out in rehearsals I was able to take the physicality of my character and the volume and tone of my voice correct. However for the final performance I did not attempt the Brooklyn accent, which I think would have made my character more believable. I also think my proxemics could have been improved. I think this was partly due to the fact that our floor plan changed for our final piece, so our position on stage had also to change. However had we done more full group rehearsal this would not have been a problem and we would not have to change the set. However I think I could have made better use of the space we had as in the final performance I would myself stuck in one space stage back, too far away from both Eddie and the audience. Furthermore I think I should have made more eye contact with other members of my group, exaggerated my facial expressions slightly to make sure that they were obvious yet still believable and moved about the stage more to make use of the stage better.
Overall I think my whole groups final performance was pretty poor, this was due to a number of different reasons. Firstly on the day of our final performance two of my group member, Eddie and Marco, turned up stoned. They therefore put no emotion into their own performances and forgot to follow stage direction we had practised in our rehearsals. Also only myself and one other group member took the time to learn their lines, which meant the other 3 members of my group had to read from the script. They therefore were unable to make their characters and the emotions of their characters as believable as they would have if they had learnt their lines. It also made acting with them in the performance more difficult as were unable to make eye contact with them.
We also encountered a number of problems during our rehearsal process, which affected the quality of our final performance. For example half way through the process of rehearsing the member of our group playing Marco realised that they would not be in for our final performance. We therefore had to get another member of our class to replace him and start the whole rehearsal process again. Also for a number of sessions we did not have a full group and were unable to rehearse. Finally for all of our sessions the majority of my group were reading from, which restricted how the extent to which we could reach real emotions and follow stage instructions.
Also I do not think we made the best use of the rehearsal time we had, which meant that we did not have an effective floor plan and all our characters proxemics were poor. For example during the part of the scene where I danced with Rodolfo we were positioned behind Eddie, losing the effect of the defiance of this act. Furthermore during the fight scene Eddie and Rodolfo were stuck in one place throughout and did not make use of the space we had. I also think we did not create the tension that was necessary in this climactic scene. The lack of rehearsals and the fact the actor playing Marco was stoned meant that the last moment of the scene where Marco lifts the chair over Eddie contained no tension. This was because the character playing Marco did not move to face Eddie and raised the chair to only waste height; loosing any tension we had created in the scene.
Overall I think our group performance could have been improved dramatically if we had rehearsed more as this would have meant we would have been more in character, producing real emotions and following correct stage directions with better proxemics. I also felt if other members had put more effort into both rehearsals and our final piece our performance would have been of much higher standard.
When watching the other performances, I saw a number of different portrayals of Catherine and the other main characters. All of these portrayals were very good but also very different each other. One person's interpretation of Catherine that I thought was very effective was Tayo's in the scene in which Beatrice confronts and warns Catherine about how she behaves with Eddie. As Tayo had learnt her lines I felt she was able to produce real emotions and that she managed to capture Catherine's naivety and innocence but at the same time show her scheming and manipulative ways. Another interpretation of Catherine I enjoyed was James's in the opening scene. As a boy playing a girl his portrayal of Catherine was very stereotypical, high pitch shrill voice, eloquent small movements and very flirty. However this made it very amusing and enjoyable to watch.
On whole I thought that A View From The Bridge was very accessible to a 21st South East London pupil. I think this because a number of the issues raised still affect us now in London. For example there is still a problem with illegal immigration and violence. Also family, friendships and culture, which were all important to characters in the play, are still important to pupils now. I also felt that the felt that the storyline was interested and enjoyable and the text was not too confusing but still challenged you. Overall I really enjoyed studied this text and the activities we carried out involving the text.
