“View From the Bridge”

This year De La Salle again collaborated with Presentation College, Windsor to present Arthur Miller’s play, A View from the Bridge. In the play we watch Eddie Carbone, a longshoreman, transform from a loving, well-respected and hard workingman into one who betrays his principles and orchestrates his own downfall. The character, Alfieri, adopts two roles, that of a lawyer who counsels Eddie and he is representative of a Greek chorus. In the role of chorus, Alfieri laments that he is powerless to stop the inevitable tragedy that will befall Eddie. Miller encourages us, as members of his audience to relate Eddie’s actions to our own and in so doing understand what motivates us, not only as individuals but also in the way we connect to each other and our past. The Theatre Studies class comprises both Year 11 and 12 students and they have each been responsible for planning and developing two areas of stagecraft. One area of stagecraft is direction and this year three of the students undertook this area and each directed a scene from the play. Their understanding and direction of the cast was a pleasure to observe. I was impressed with the group’s commitment to rehearsals and ongoing application to various areas of the production. They maintained their enthusiasm and their dedication to understanding their character’s motivation was been nothing short of extraordinary. Ruth O’Leary and Alicia Barrett were wonderful ambassadors for Presentation College and were delightful to work with. The cast included, Justin Geaney, Xavier O’Shannessy, Tristan Tiso, Max Helsing, Peter Gourgoulis, Rory Murphy, Peter Convery, Paul Beliga and William Luby. A play just doesn’t happen without the support of others. Thank you to Brother Bill, Brother Quentin, and Brother Gabriel for their generosity and Bryan Smith for his lighting expertise.

Ms Marg McPhee Theatre Studies