SLT Audition
Auditions: A View From the Bridge
By Arthur Miller
Audition one
Date: 11 Aug 2024
Time: 10:00 - 12:30
Location: SE27 9NS
Audition two
Date: 12 Aug 2024
Time: 20:00 - 22:00
Location: SE27 9NS
The play is set in Brooklyn, New York, in the 1940s/50s in the dockland area of Red Hook below Brooklyn Bridge. Although the drama is contemporary, it has the distinct quality of an epic Greek tragedy. Alfieri, a local lawyer, acts as a narrator/chorus, on stage throughout the drama. Eddie and Beatrice, both in their 40s, live with their adopted niece Catherine, aged 17. Marco and Rudolpho, cousins of Beatrice, arrive as illegal immigrants from Sicily. Marco wants to work and send money home to his family and Rudolpho wishes to become an American citizen. He’s attracted to the lights on Broadway – and to Catherine.
The drama unfolds revealing Eddie’s over-protective relationship with Catherine – perhaps he loves her too much. Beatrice is keen for Catherine to grow up, leave home and get married – perhaps she is trying to save her marriage. Catherine is torn between the emerging love she feels for the young Rudolpho and the loyalty/love she feels toward Eddie. Still a virgin, she is sexually potent, and struggles to deal with all the conflicting emotions, passions and dreams. Rudolpho and Eddie become rivals – stags butting horns for dominance of Catherine.
Beatrice and Marco, both in their own way, attempt to diffuse the battle and hold things together. Eddie consults Alfieri, the lawyer, with his dilemma, declaring that Rudolpho “ain’t right” – he sings too high, cooks and makes dresses. Alfieri attempts to guide Eddie, to encourage him to let Catherine go. She’s a grown woman. He assures Eddie there is no law to accuse Rudolpho of anything, except the illegal immigrant status. Eventually the heat grows too much for Eddie to bear and he reports the cousins to the immigration authority. Arrests are made and accusations are blasted across the neighbourhood. Marco spits in Eddie’s face. It turns into a public display of rage and Eddie’s name is blackened in the community. Alfieri advises that Rudolpho can stay in America if he marries Catherine, but Marco must return to Sicily. He can only get bail if he stays away from Eddie. Can he do this?
The power of this drama is the inevitable tragedy.
All the roles require an American accent. We will have a coach to help.
All audition slots have now been booked. Please contact the director using the button below with any further enquiries about this show.
Director: Janine Wunsche
Performances: 19 - 23 Nov 2024
First Rehearsal: 8 Sep 2024
Characters:
Eddie Carbone: Playing age – 40s. A working class docker/longshoreman. Respected man in the community. Hangs out with his mates. He’s a traditional man, loyal and honest. At home, he provides for the family, sets most of the rules but is warm and loving. However, some things are not so clear for him. His sexual relationship with his wife is dormant. The undercurrent of his relationship with Catherine is confused. He struggles to master the clashes of loyalty, passion, reason and justice.
Beatrice Carbone: Playing age – 40s. A loving housewife and replacement mother to her sister’s daughter Catherine. No children of her own. She is quietly strong. A practical, simple but wise woman. Concerned about Eddie’s lack of sexual love for her and threatened by Catherine’s vibrant youth. The arrival of her immigrant cousins and the growing tensions that arise between the males are a constant concern. She battles to keep the peace: she must lose Catherine to save her marriage.
Catherine: Playing age – 17. Bright and vibrant. Playful and childlike, but fast becoming a woman. She’s still at college, but she has been offered a job as a stenographer. Very close to Eddie. Rudolpho arrives and rocks her boat. Loyal to Eddie, but the romantic, sexual pull is attractive. Turbulent, emotional role, demanding huge variety and skill. She literally grows up during the course of the play.
Rudolpho: Playing age – mid to late 20s. Blonde hair (or prepared to lighten), he sings, is charismatic and full of life, as well as creative and talented. Although he’s from a small fishing community, he has big dreams. He can sing arias and jazz, he cooks, he makes clothes. He’s funny, too. He is determined to make it in America and then maybe return home a man of substance. However, he is not worldly wise, so is somewhat naive in Brooklyn. Eddie believes Rudolpho is “not right” and is just after Catherine for his citizenship papers. Is he right?
Marco: Playing age – 30s. Physically strong. Dark hair (in contrast to Rudolpho), hard-working, poor family man. Has a wife and three hungry kids in Sicily, and one of those children is very ill. He goes to work on the docks and sends all the money back to his wife to care for his family. He’s quiet, reserved on the surface, but with powerful fire in his belly. A proud man of conviction. His composure is fully broken by Eddie’s betrayal to the immigration authority. He spits on Eddie, accusing him of killing his children, condemning him as an animal. Then a more instinctive, epic sense of justice drives him toward his fate.
Alfieri: Playing age – 50/60. A local lawyer working in the community on family disputes, divorces, business-related issues and legal advice to immigrants. Once an immigrant himself, he understands these people. He is a man of reason, a pillar of justice in a system he knows has flaws. He gets caught up in Eddie’s dilemma. He desperately tries to steer Eddie away from the impending disaster. He is a visionary. He sees the outcome of an action before it arrives. Although a man of reason about the law, he is a very passionate and caring man. He never leaves the stage, so he acts as a mirror to the drama in the same way that a chorus works in Greek tragedy.
Louis: Playing age – 30-50. Longshoreman. Friend of Eddie. Smaller role.
Mike: Playing age – 30-50. Longshoreman. Friend of Eddie. Smaller role.
Immigration officers: Playing age – any. One short scene.
