'A Man Who Let Himself Be Fully Known': Review Of The Workshop Players' Production Of 'A View From The Bridge'.

Published in Ceylon Today

KANISHKA ANTHONY HERAT is 25 years old. 

He attended St. Peter's College, Colombo 4 and is an Attorney-at-Law by profession. He works in a leading blue chip company.

His first production with the Workshop Players was "THE SOUND OF MUSIC" in 2008, in which he played "Rolf".

Thereafter, he portrayed the roles of "Inspector Javert" in "LES MISERABLES" - 2015, "Iago" in "Othello" - 'Shakespeare in the Park' - 2016 and now "Eddie Carbone" - 'A View from the Bridge' - 2016.

In addition to the above performances for the Workshop Players, Kanishka performed in "A Christmas Carol" as 'Ebenezer Scrooge presented by St. Peter's College - 2010, "Leading Ladies" - 2011, "Nobody's Perfect" - 2013 and "Sherlock Holmes' Secret Life" - 2013 presented by Silent Hands, "He Comes from Jaffna" - 2011 & 2013, "No Sex Please, We're British" - 2014, "Return of the Ralahamy" - 2016 and "Chaos at the Vicarage" - 2011 presented by the Creative Arts Foundation & "Time and Motion" - 2012 presented by Theatre Junction.

The play deals with powerful material: it is really a Greek tragedy set in a working-class modern setting rather than a royal or noble social echelon. The love triangle here has a vulnerable centre: a man whose feelings are unacknowledged by himself, although they are evident to those around him: his understanding lawyer, and his compassionate wife. 

As Eddie Carbone sets himself to undermine, overthrow and remove the young Italian man chosen by his niece Catherine to be her husband, he destroys his own character and his reputation and name in the Italian community in Brooklyn, New York. 

The lighting singles him out in a crucial moment in iridescent red, the colour of rage and blood, and we see very clearly that his pride enrages him: he cannot stand being disrespected by anyone, wholly unaware of how unnatural his wish is, to keep his beloved niece at home with him for the rest of her life, thinking he is just protecting her from the dangers in the world, but actually impeding her necessary development into adulthood. 

Catherine loves him and is grateful to him, and cannot understand her own confusion and conflict. The body language between them is fascinatingly choreographed. There is childlike innocence, joy  and trust in their initial interactions, and there is also humour in Eddie's jealous comments about his young rival, at first. But this lightness becomes laced and laden with tragic emotional depths, as Catherine's relationship with her lover grows into something real, and her own, beyond her uncle's aegis. 

The scene where Catherine, who had earlier very sincerely movingly expressed her love and devotion to Eddie, cries out in anguish against him: 'He is like a rat! A rat who comes in and bites people and poisons them in the night! A rat!' is a terrible shattering of the familial bonds, which may have been stretched but not broken, if Eddie had been able to see and draw back from the impossible outcome of his own over-reaching, possessive unspoken emotion. 

Eddie's conviction that Catherine's love affair is false, because the young man is merely romancing her to obtain American citizenship, is insulting and destructive. He actually calls the immigration authorities to inform on the young man and his brother, who are his own relatives by marriage, and guests in his home: an act of family disloyalty that can never be redeemed, or recovered from. 

This production showed the falseness of Eddie's beliefs by clearly showing the genuine tenderness between the couple when Eddie breaks in upon them and throws Rudolpho out, promising to send him out 'feet first' (in a coffin) if he dares to stay and disrupt his home anymore. 

The lawyer, Alfieri, is a Greek chorus embodied in one immaculately-dressed man, sympathetic and compassionate to Eddie. He comments on the action throughout, and acts as an intermediary, breaking the fourth wall, advising Eddie in vain to stop trying to prevent what is natural, and telling us the anxious viewers what a good man Eddie Carbone is. We are asked to view the sad and terrible end of his client's life, and suspend our judgment. 

This was a lucid and intense production, with strong, tender, developed and wholly credible performances from the whole ensemble. 

Kanishka Herat spoke exclusively to Devika Brendon about his performance in the play. 

1. Your Director, Jerome de Silva, has said this is a production of this play of a kind that has never been seen in this country. What are the most innovative and confronting aspects of it? 

THIS PLAY IS PREDOMINANTLY A SERIOUS AND HEAVY PLAY, AND THE ACTING IS HIGHLY ESSENTIAL TO BRING THE PLAY TO LIFE.

THE STAGE SETTING IS OF AN AVANTE GARDE NATURE WITHOUT MAJOR BACKDROPS AND FURNITURE AND THEREBY GIVES THE ACTORS BOTH THE OPPORTUNITY AND ADDED PRESSURE TO ACT THEIR ROLES OUT WITH CONVICTION, TO BRING THE PLAY TO LIFE.

THE ACTION TAKES PLACE IN A GLASS HORIZONTAL FRAME WITH MIRRORS SO THAT WHEN THE ACTOR BACKS THE AUDIENCE, HIS OR HER REACTIONS CAN BE SEEN. THIS ENABLES THE ACTORS TO MOVE AROUND THE STAGE WITH MORE FREEDOM.

2. Could you outline the process by which you workshop a performance like this? Is it in a way like removing layers of convention or assumption about the characters to get to a more intense, stark,  genuine and spontaneous emotional state? 

WE START OFF WITH CHARACTER AWARENESS AND SUBSEQUENTLY CHARACTER BULIDING EXERCISES SUCH AS ASKING OURSELVES THE "6 W's":

WHO AM I?

WHEN AM I?

WHERE AM I?

WHAT DO I DO?

WHAT DO I WANT?

WHAT WILL I DO TO ACHIEVE WHAT I WANT?

IN THE ABOVE PROCESS WE PICTURED OURSELVES IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, AND CREATED AWARENESS ABOUT OUR SURROUNDINGS.

WE REHEARSED IN A NORMAL HOUSE SETTING PRIOR TO SWITCHING TO A BOX SETTING TO GET THE 'FEEL' OF A HOUSE ENVIRONMENT.

WE ALSO DID EXERCISES TO GET LOST IN THE MOMENT AND TO REALLY GET INTO CHARACTER, WHICH IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE PLAY.

3. How instinctive is acting? How much is learned? 

IT DEPENDS ON EACH PERSON. FOR SOME, IT COMES NATURALLY (i.e. REACTIONS, ETC.) FOR SOME, IN-DEPTH COACHING AND DIRECTING IS NECESSARY.

HOWEVER, FOR EVERYONE, GUIDANCE IN THE BASICS OF ACTING AND AWARENESS OF THE STAGE, AND HOW TO BRING ABOUT AN EVENT AND EXPERIENCE FOR THE AUDIENCE, IS NECESSARY. 

ACTING IS A CONSTANT LEARNING PROCESS. 

4. Is there any cultural limitation or restraint that you feel in performing roles specifically set in other countries and historical eras? 

NOT REALLY.

I HAVE PORTRAYED BRITISH ROLES AND NOW AN AMERICAN ROLE.

IT'S THE TRAINING AND WORK YOU PUT BEHIND IT.

YOU HAVE TO WORK A LOT HARDER TO PULL OFF A ROLE LIKE THIS, TO PERFECT ACCENTS AND MANNERISMS. 

5. Arthur Miller specialises in everyday, believable tragedy which has an impact as powerful as a Classical Greek drama like 'Oedipus'. Is this a fair statement about this play? 

TO BE HONEST, I'M NOT TOO FAMILIAR WITH HIS OTHER PLAYS BUT IT IS THE CASE WITH 'A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE.'

AND THE IMPACT IS DEFFINITELY THERE AS THE AUDIENCE IS GIVEN AN INSIGHT INTO WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.

6. Do you feel the outcome of this situation in the lives of these characters, and their tense and conflicted relationships, is inevitable, in this play? 

I FEEL THE CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY ARE TORN APART BETWEEN THE AMERICAN LAW AND THE SICILIAN/ITALIAN LAW.

BEING ITALIAN OR SICILIAN/ OF ITALIAN DESCENT AND BEING A PART OF LOWER INCOME EARNING FAMILIES, THE 'EYE FOR AN EYE, TOOTH FOR A TOOTH' LAW IS PREVALENT... AS IN ITALY AT THE TIME. RESPECT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THEM.

SO IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO TARNISH OR BETRAY A FAMILY IN THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD, THE PRIMITIVE LAW MAY BE RESORTED TO BY MOST.

7. What have you learned about yourself, from taking on this particular role? Could we know the insights you have gained? 

THIS PLAY IS AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER. I HAD GO THROUGH A MULTITUDE OF EMOTIONS FROM HAPPINESS, CONSERVATISM, JEALOUSY, RAGE TO NAME A FEW.

I'M PLEASED THAT I COULD EMOTE WHAT WAS NECESSARY AT THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE PLAY. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAS NOT BEEN DEMANDED FROM ME AS MUCH IN MY OTHER PLAYS - EXCEPT PERHAPS FOR SCROOGE.

8. What challenges do you personally face in preparing such an intense and mesmerising performance? 

IT'S MENTALLY EXHAUSTING. A LOT OF THOUGHT AND ANALYSIS GOES IN TO A PLAY LIKE THIS TO BRING LIFE TO THE TEXT AND DO JUSTICE TO IT AS WELL. 

SOMETIMES YOU REALLY DO GET LOST IN THE MOMENT AND FORGET YOURSELF, AND YOU NEED TO BRING YOUR SELF BACK.

9. Do you ever discover unexpected depths or variations in your interpretation of the character you are playing when performing which you had not expected to come up in rehearsal? 

I DO. THE MORE TIMES YOU PERFORM IN A REHEARSAL, YOU FIND DIFFERENT WAYS OF DOING THINGS AND MAKE THE PERFORMANCE YOUR OWN. SOME TIMES VARIATIONS JUST COME TO YOU AND YOU DECIDE WHAT FITS BEST.

10. What in your view are the qualities of character and attitude which make a person an effective and capable actor? 

COMMITMENT TO UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT TO A GREAT EXTENT.

COMMITMENT AS A WHOLE FOR REHEARSALS.

WORKING TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER ACTORS TO COME TO A GOOD AND COLLECTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PLAY.

PERSONALLY TO MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF TO WORK ON YOUR OWN - RESEARCH ETC.

TO BE THOROUGHLY FOCUSSED AT REHEARSALS BUT ENJOY YOURSELF. 

View From The Bridge - Workshop Players Production 

1. Your Director has said this will be a production of this play of a kind that has never been seen in this country. What are the most innovative and confronting aspects of it? 

2. Could you outline the process by which you workshop a performance like this? Is it in a way like removing layers of convention or assumption about the characters to get to a more intense and stark and genuine and spontaneous emotional state? 

3. How instinctive is acting? How much is learned? 

4. Is there any cultural limitation or restraint that you feel in performing roles specifically set in other countries and historical eras? 

5. Arthur Miller specialises in everyday, believable tragedy which has an impact as powerful as a Classical Greek drama like 'Oedipus'. Is this a fair statement about this play? 

6. Do you feel the outcome of this situation in the lives of these characters, and their tense and conflicted relationships, is inevitable, in this play? 

7. What have you learned about yourself, from taking on this particular role? Could we know the insights you have gained? 

8. What challenges do you personally face in preparing such an intense and mesmerising performance? 

9. Do you ever discover unexpected depths or variations in your interpretation of the character you are playing when performing which you had not expected to come up in rehearsal? 

10. What in your view are the qualities of character and attitude which make a person an effective and capable actor? 

Unacknowledged Desire Becomes A Tragic Fate

Published in New Ceylon Writing No. 6

The production is stripped down and the set is minimalist because the emotions take up all the space on stage. This was a charged and intensely mesmerising performance by the whole ensemble. 

The director had invited me to a rehearsal two weeks before the performance, and I had come in time to see the principal players who play the lovers, Catherine and Rudolfo, working out the positioning and movement and alignments in a pivotal scene in which he is asking her why she finds it so hard to leave the home of her aunt and uncle and be with him, and live their life together. 

The story takes place in an Italian immigrant family in mid-20thC Brooklyn, and the claustrophobia and voyeurism of the setting is evoked by the simplest of sets: steel benches in a square, with see-through plastic sheeting in the foreground, and a set of steps leading up to a central doorway/archway which leads to the streets outside. 

The man of the family, Eddie Carbone, has aspirations for a better life for his niece, Catherine, who has grown up in his home. He wants her to live in a nice neighbourhood, amongst a better class of people than those she has so far moved among. He is extremely protective of her. 

What is clear to us, viewing through the sheeting and the frames, and the mediating guidance and commentary of Eddie's lawyer, is that Eddie is in love with Catherine. And this is romantic love, not fatherly or avuncular. And it is unacknowledged by Eddie, who is unconscious that, when he looks at his niece and comments that she is walking in 'too wavy' a manner, that he looks at her as a lover looks, territorially wishing to shield her from the gaze of other men. 

The extended family situations in which many of us live in Sri Lanka are spoken to very powerfully by this production, as unacknowledged wishes, longings and desires flourish in repression and denial. 

Blurred relational lines are fuelled by physical proximity and patriarchal values, in which the man of the house, the hard-working provider, 

feels unconsciously entitled to more than daughterly devotion, when a girl becomes an adult still living at home. 

Individuation is a central theme of the play, and in an ideal world Catherine would get a job, become independent financially, and settle down in the neighbourhood with a nice young man who is worthy of her intelligence, her sweetness and her beauty. And her uncle's unacknowledged feelings would gradually subside, like flood waters that have exceeded their limit, and return back into the normal lines of acceptability. 

It is usual to castigate and scapegoat child molesters and paedophiles for unnatural behaviour. This play, and this production in particular, shows us three adults equally caught in an explosive triangle which is tragically detonated by the arrival of a young man who Catherine likes enough to marry. 

I say three, because Catherine loves her uncle dearly, and Eddie's wife, Beatrice, sees her husband's situation with agape and compassion, not blaming her niece in any way, and encourages her to grow up and actively seek and insist on her emotional independence. 

We see Eddie's dislike of Catherine's suitor as comic initially: Rudolfo is a vibrant, attractive and outgoing personality, with brazen blonde hair and an exuberance which acts like a magnet on Catherine. Eddie openly suspects him of being 'not right' (translation: homosexual), because he likes to sing and is creative in ways outside Eddie's ken. And this disapproval, fed by jealousy of him as a rival, escalates into the accusation that Rudolfo is only interested in Catherine so that he can become an American citizen. 

This unjust suspicion, which he communicates as fact to Catherine, catalyses her through outrage and confusion into clarity, where she is forced to choose, and her choice causes Eddie to confront Marco and Rudolfo, because he has not been able to confront his own unfulfillable longing to be with Catherine. 

This is romantic, because it is a dream that can never come true, in real life. And it is tragic, because Eddie allows his feelings to interfere with his niece's pursuit of her happiness independently of him. The lawyer, his devoted wife, and all of us viewing the unfolding of the story, can see that Eddie is becoming more and more isolated and obsessed, and we are powerless to stop the tragic outcome.