'A View from the Bridge' (Everyman Theatre) - Play review

The Everyman is specified in the title of this as I'm going to see another 'A View from the Bridge' in a few weeks at the Young Vic, the one starring Mark Strong as Eddie and directed by Ivo van Hove, who also directed the version of 'Antigone' which I watched at the Barbican last night. It's been slightly over a week since I saw this 'A View from the Bridge' at the Everyman Theatre as I had a very busy week this week - I might even write a blog post to relate it as a lot went down, as it were. Luckily for myself, as I have 4 reviews to write today/this weekend, I only wrote 4 pages of notes during the performance, so this review shouldn't take so long (oh gosh writing up 'Antigone's going to be a slog). But without further ado - a review of 'A View from the Bridge' at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham.

A lovely view of the bridge.

The party I went with were all A-level drama students, studying the play as the A2 paper involves writing a section of the play as if you're directing it. The trip was optional - as mentioned previously we're also going to see Ivo van Hove's production next Tuesday - it was just for the most enthusiastic students to get a more well-rounded view of possible interpretations of the play. That being said, reception of the play was quite varied within the group. I was personally in the camp who had been pleased by it, there was also a camp whose opinion could be described with the sound 'meh', and a camp whose opinion approached middling disdain.

'Consolation' (for S. Davies)

Though the two of us are separate
And c'mitments keep us far away,
Filial love is intimate
On any sharéd day.

Though th'working week may inspire rage
And Solent waters do the same,
Distance is but a temp'ry cage
And time a temp'ry shame.

This time for you is hard I know,
And myriad choices plague your thoughts,
Let it be known that I and Joe
Wish to make your terrors nought,

So, please remember that you needn't be afeared -
You have my little brother Joe to keep your family near.

Tom Hiddleston at the Nuffield

[Important note: my memory is not perfect and I cannot write in shorthand, only note-form. Speech in 'inverted commas' is not a direct quote but a loose quote formed by filling in prepositions, etc, skipped out in note form and may not be exactly what was said. Imagine Capote's 'In Cold Blood', basically.]

This post is long overdue, I'm sorry guys, but what can I say, I'm a busy person. The real rush to finish this comes as I'm going to another Q&A with author A. L. Kennedy on Monday 16th (of March) and will most definitely want to write about that as well, and I don't want to confuse anyone with the order of things. So the particular evening I'm talking about was a couple of weeks ago, the 22nd of February to be exact, and I apologise for the lateness, but I made 6 pages of notes so don't expect any less than if it had been yesterday.

I'm very proud of the Nuffield Theatre as it's the first theatre that I felt a real part of, and intend to work there in the future, and intend to return to as a professional actor to perform on that stage. The Nuffield is undeniably going places, and I'm fortunate that it took me into its heart - especially since I'm from the Isle of Wight, a different county. The Q&A comes just a few weeks after the news that the Nuffield won 'The Stage's regional theatre of the year 2014; it felt special to be in a celebrating theatre with a pair of very successful men talking about their industry.