Director’s Note: A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

It’s rare for an Australian director to get to revisit a classic work in many different contexts. Each time you do, new elements of the play reveal themselves and the piece evolves and changes. My journey with A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE began two years ago in the 80-seat theatre at the Old Fitz where the company you are watching tonight sweated out Miller’s Euripidean tragedy in close visceral quarters. We created a show firmly in the ‘poor theatre’ aesthetic following Lope de Vega’s dictum that all a great theatre needs is actors, a stage and some passion. We used two lighting effects, two props, the minimum amount of furniture, one chair, and the emotional power of the story crackled into being.

We then transferred to Glenn Street Theatre where the production shifted from traverse to proscenium and a whole new cosmic dimension to the play revealed itself. I was then invited to explore the play further at MTC and, after seeking Andrew Henry’s blessing, Zoe Terakes, myself and a new company of Melbourne based actors dug deep into that new discovery with a high tech exploration of Euripidean epic minimalism in the huge Southbank Theatre, The Sumner, and a new operatic door was suddenly opened on the play. Returning now to the original production in its new incarnation, at my favourite theatre here at Ensemble, I am struck by how A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE continues to reward new explorations from the intense realism of Gregory Mosher to the icicle clarity of Ivo Van Hove. The show you will see tonight has again revealed something altogether new from deep within and I look forward to sharing what that with you.

Iain Sinclair – Director

At Ensemble Theatre 18 Jul – 24 Aug, book here.