Back for more: Edge Theater hosts first returning play - #lakewoodnews

Arthur Miller is responsible for some of American theater's most important works, and he's also responsible for Lakewood's The Edge Theater's first repeat production.

"A View From the Bridge" returns to The Edge, 1560 Teller St. in Lakewood, through Dec. 31. Performances are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

"We first did this show five years ago, and it's one of my absolute favorite plays," said Rick Yaconis, The Edge's executive director. "There's a reason it is revived every couple years on Broadway."

Yaconis is reprising his role as Eddie Carbone, an Italian-American longshoreman who lives in Brooklyn in 1955. Eddie lives with his wife, Beatrice (Abby Apple Boes), and his nice, Catherine (Amelia Corrada). But things get messy for everyone when Beatrice's cousins arrive illegally from Italy.

"The play is a very rewarding and fun experience," said director John Ashton. "It's a profound and moving play we're telling in a moving way."

We spoke to both Ashton and Yaconis about the resonance of "A View From the Bridge," and why The Edge decided to bring the show back.

Point 1: Staying relevant --; One of the main topics the play examines in immigration into the United States, and 60 years after Miller wrote it, his exploration remains as vital as ever.

"For the past year or more, we've heard so much about immigration from politicians," Yaconis explained. "The genius of Arthur Miller is the way he writes plays that are centered on social change."

At the time of its writing, the House Un-American Activities Committee was in the throes of its communist obsession, and that sense of paranoia made its way into the play.

"People were forced to name names and betray people," Ashton said. "We're dealing with a lot of that suspicion still today."

Point 2: What's new --; When The Edge first tackled "A View From the Bridge," it was in its first home farther east on Colfax, which had a smaller space to work with.

"Aside from me, it's a completely different cast, a different director and a different space, which means a new approach to set and lighting," Yaconis said. "I didn't want to do the same show again."

Ashton brought a new passion and perspective to the play, and purposefully avoided anything done the first go-round.

"The great thing about working with these actors, is they all known how to react to each other," he said. "Everyone has been raising their own level."

Point 3: What stays the same --; Miller's language and searing social gaze remain the driving forces of the play in the new approach to the show.

"There are some incredibly powerful moments," Ashton said. "So much humanity comes out of these characters."

The play's core message about the beauty and ugliness of family remains the focal point in the new production.

"Hopefully people will look at these characters and think, that's my family around the dinner table," Yaconis said. "It definitely sticks with you for a long time."

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Back-for-more-Edge-Theater-hosts-first-returning-play,240420