See it if You like daring, inventive theatre. Great acting and a thrilling production of this classic. I will see any show directed by van Hove.
Don't see it if You do not like more avant-garde theatre.
See it if you are riveted by brilliant set, moving music/soundtrack, precise choreography and excellent ensemble; production that blows you away
Don't see it if you think Arthur Miller contemplated that this play should be performed naturistically
See it if you want a stark, sleek, transcendent reimagining of a classic, with an ineluctable and astonishing performance from Mark Strong
Don't see it if you don't want to be shaking a little afterward
See it if Amazing show. Mark strong is Tony worthy. On stage seating is great!
Don't see it if Not for young kids or if you're looking for something funny.
See it if you want to see a gripping and unique staging of a classic play. Powerhouse performance from Mark Strong.
Don't see it if you prefer realistic sets or safe directorial choices.
See it if you want to see fantastic acting of a great script
Don't see it if you don't like minimalist theatre and don't want to be challenged
See it if if you are ready to experience a brilliant new staging of a classic american play lead by strong performances and ambitious direction.
Don't see it if if you are expecting classic/traditional Miller.
See it if Unbelievable production and acting. Unforgettable tensions.
Don't see it if You don't enjoy deep emotions portrayed
"Van Hove and his excellent cast take the lid off Eddie’s obsessions and inhibitions, ending in a literal blood bath. Van Hove is highly dramatic, but he isn’t always very subtle. Some of the performances, though, are both. Strong turns Eddie’s tragedy into an utter inability and unwillingness to understand his own motives."
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"Strong delivers a fearless, riveting performance…Strong also affects a more convincing Brooklyn accent than some of his fellow Brits -- among them Fox, who seems a less-than-ideal fit for Catherine in other respects...Van Hove holds us rapt throughout, even when his flourishes feel overstated. While Miller's dialogue hardly requires such added fuss, the director should be commended for offering a fresh take that sacrifices none of its sting."
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"The absence of the traditional stagecraft focuses all the attention on the text and the actors bringing it to life. The result is something akin to what watching an original production of a play by Sophocles must have been...It's hard to imagine that there will be a finer performance this season."
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"From the first moments of director Ivo van Hove’s stripped-down and downright stunning production of 'A View From the Bridge,' it is clear this will be unlike any other …This 'View' moves with the terrifying inevitability of myth…Most of this happens on designer Jan Versweyveld’s elevated plain square with an emotional honesty that makes even Miller’s heavier lines seem almost improvised."
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"With just six key parts, having two of them so poorly cast made a strong evening of theater seem a dreadful disappointment for being so close to greatness. A little more care and this would have been a classic staging…Strong and the two women in his life are exceptional and make this flawed but interesting production a must-see."
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"It’s hard to turn your eyes away from the stage for even an instant. This is theater at its most direct and enthralling, with the usual supporting elements stripped away so that the characters, on a nearly bare stage, are vividly revealed as creatures of pure, irresistible human impulse…If the atmosphere is stylized, the performances are totally naturalistic, led by English actor Mark Strong’s haunting portrayal of Eddie."
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"The latest revival of 'A View From the Bridge' will be noted for its stark set, ghostly sound effects and mesmerizing performance by Mark Strong, as the conflicted Italian-American longshoreman Eddie Carbone…This production hangs on the performance by Strong, who acts with his entire lanky body and nimbly moves between rationality and psychosis…’Bridge’ is edge-of-your seat drama that leaves you gritting your teeth."
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"The result is alternately powerful and a wee bit ridiculous. The power comes mostly courtesy of an astonishing lead performance by British actor Mark Strong…Alas, this 'A View from the Bridge' doesn't quite cohere...The cast also contains a significant weak link in Fox…A touch more humor and humility might have gone a very long way."
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