A View from the Bridge
When I first signed up to audition for the ensemble, I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. In fact, a few weeks before the audition my husband and I agreed that I was now to focus on making acting & singing a full time profession. A big decision. A very big decision. So, when I found out I had made the final cut of the ensemble, I was ecstatic. I was determined to make the most of this experience. To be in a professional stage production. A professional play. With professional actors! I couldn't wait.
A few weeks before the cast were to arrive in Darlington, I read through the play. I wanted to be prepared for that first rehearsal, and I wanted an idea of how we were going to be used. From what I could tell, by reading the script, was that the ensemble were a huge part of the last scene. The last scene. Oh boy. I thought surely we were going to be spending a lot of time in our dressing rooms. However, on the first day of rehearsal, Neale, the Staff Director, gave us a sheet of paper with cues and tasks to be performed throughout Acts 1 and 2. I couldn't believe it! We were going to be used throughout! We were actually going to be apart of the play as a whole.
The real joy for me comes in the last scene. I currently have the pleasure of playing "Mrs. Dondero," the upstairs neighbour, who hides the cousins. I get to come out onto the fire escape and watch the distress unfold below. I'm kind of just up there, leaning against the railing looking in. It's not until Eddie Carbone, played by Jonathan Guy Lewis, looks up at me that I then feel like I'm apart of the scene. I feel a sense of purpose and am really engaged. Not just Eddie, but Beatrice, played by Teresa Banham, and even Catherine, played by Daisy Boulton. Isn't that interesting? That's all it is. Just one little glance up and suddenly I've joined the scene. I can feel their hearts trembling and the fear of what is destined for Eddie Carbone. I am no longer a spectator or even apart of the audience who has the privilege of being on stage, but a member of the community, the Red Hook community.
Every performance, without fail, I feel my heart beating and aching for the Carbone family. Every time. If you ask me, I have one of the best views of that final scene.
Darlington Civic Theatre
www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk
Tickets £17.40 - £27, discounts available
Tuesday, March 17, 2015 - Saturday, March 21, 2015
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Image source: Wolverhampton Grand Theatre