Sam Rockwell returns to downtown for Arthur Miller’s ‘A View from the Bridge’ at La MaMa Nov. 27.

 

Sam Rockwell returns to downtown for Arthur Miller’s 

‘A View from the Bridge’ at 

La MaMa

 Nov. 27.

Marin Ireland and Alfred Molina will join Rockwell in 13-week Off-Broadway production, directed by Neil Pepe and beginning performances Nov. 27.

Academy Award-winner and Tony Award-nominee Sam Rockwell will star as Eddie Carbone in a new Off-Broadway production of Miller’s “A View from the Bridge” at the Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Performances begin on Nov. 27, with an opening night set for Sunday, Dec. 13. The strictly limited engagement will run for 13 weeks.

Rockwell will be joined by Tony Award-nominee Marin Ireland as Beatrice and Tony, Olivier, and Emmy Award-nominee Alfred Molina as Alfieri. Tony Award-nominee Neil Pepe will direct.

Tickets are now on sale at www.viewfromthebridgeplay.com.

For Rockwell, the production is something of a homecoming. He recalled visiting La MaMa as a child while his mother was involved in experimental theater and described returning to the institution with Miller’s play as “coming full circle.” “I started my own career downtown, and institutions like La MaMa have always inspired me — as an artist and as an audience member,” Rockwell said, calling such theaters “the lifeblood of our culture.”

The theater’s name, the late Ellen Stewart, honors the visionary African American fashion designer, producer, and theatrical pioneer who founded La MaMa in 1961 in the basement of an East Village tenement. Stewart had been working as a designer for Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and Henri Bendel when she created what would become one of the foundational institutions of the Off-Off-Broadway movement. With little formal theater experience but an unshakable belief that artists needed freedom, Stewart created a home for emerging, experimental, and international voices that commercial theater frequently overlooked. She referred to the artists she supported as her children and often used money from her fashion work to keep their productions moving. 

Stewart died in 2011, but La MaMa continues to operate according to the principle she established: Give artists space, support, and permission to take risks.

That history gives this production added resonance. The producers say the engagement has been structured to deliver a substantially greater benefit to La MaMa than a conventional theater rental, while directing attention and resources to the nonprofit institution. Special ticket rates will also be available to La MaMa members.

Set in the immigrant neighborhoods of 1950s Brooklyn, “A View from the Bridge” follows Eddie Carbone, a longshoreman whose ordered life begins to collapse after his wife’s cousins arrive from Italy. When Eddie’s niece Catherine falls in love with the younger cousin, Rodolpho, Eddie’s protectiveness hardens into jealousy, propelling the family toward betrayal and tragedy. Miller’s play remains a blistering examination of masculinity, desire, loyalty, and the pressures surrounding the American Dream.

The producers describe the engagement as the play’s first Off-Broadway return since the celebrated 1965 production at the Sheridan Square Playhouse.

The creative team includes scenic designer Scott Pask, costume designer Sarah Laux, lighting designer John Torres, and sound designer Palmer Hefferan. 

Casting is by Taylor Williams. The production is presented by Play Hooky Productions, with Baseline Theatrical as general manager.