I read A View from the Bridge before I saw it as a production, some years ago as a student. It was one those plays that even on the page, jumps out at you and grabs you with such an intensity that you can’t stop thinking about it for a long time afterwards.

Miller has written characters who are real. Who are believable. Who are complex and messy and flawed. Who are, in many ways, recognisable and familiar – not despite their flaws, but because of them. By setting up such strong empathy for the characters, as the play hurtles towards its inevitable conclusion, the emotional climax has an extraordinary impact (if you’re anything like me you may watch the final scene peeking through your fingers).

Many people see A View from the Bridge as a tragedy – which it undoubtedly is. But it’s also a love story. There’s familial love, romantic love, forbidden love. There’s duty-bound love and dangerous love. And the love at the heart of the play is crucial because it’s what’s at stake: it’s why we care.

It’s brilliant to see the way that audiences are responding to our production, directed by the wonderful Holly Race Roughan and co-produced with the Octagon Theatre Bolton, the Rose Theatre and Headlong, and to see the enduring impact of this extraordinary play, so intensely brought to life by our outstanding company. We’re thrilled to have actors familiar to our audiences back at CFT, including Jonathan Slinger (Crave at Chichester 2020), Kirsty Bushell (Regan in King Lear Festival 2017) and Rachelle Diedericks (Our Generation Festival 2022), as part of a truly superlative cast including Nancy Crane (Chimerica at the Almeida/West End) and Luke Newberry (Macbeth at the RSC).

It seems remarkable to me that there’s never been an Arthur Miller production at CFT before and I’m delighted that we’re rectifying that. If you know it – come along and remind yourself once again why it’s considered one of the greatest plays of all time. And if you don’t know it – what an experience you have in store.

We look forward to welcoming you to the theatre soon.