A view to a hit for Strong
MARK STRONG has always felt a tad uneasy about West End transfers.
His argument is that when you do a play in an intimate venue, it’s been designed for that space. Moving it to a bigger theatre risks messing with the magic that made it a hit.
‘It has always been a little bit strange for me’, he admitted. Until now. Sharp-eyed readers would have seen my mini scoop last week about Ivo van Hove’s tumultuous interpretation of Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge, which had rapturous reviews and sold out houses at the Young Vic earlier this year, transferring to Wyndham’s Theatre for a limited season from February 11. Strong (pictured) will again play Brooklyn docker Eddie Carbone, whose obsession — unrecognised by him — with his 17-year-old orphaned niece leads to tragedy. The play had to be done again, Strong said. There was a lot of emailing and t exting between the fine cast that includes Phoebe Fox as Catherine, the niece, and Nicola Walker as his wife Beatrice. ‘Everybody was on board straight away,’ he said. It’s one of those productions of a classic play that stays with you. Von Hove’s idea was to strip everything back — Jan Versweyveld’s set was pared back to a naked shell, allowing the piece to become more and more intense as the tragedy unfolded.
Strong said he could sense the tension as people settled in their seats and saw that the set was not the usual Fifties Brooklyn apartment.
‘You could almost feel them shuffling forward in their seats,’ said Strong, who’d been away from the stage for 12 years before agreeing to go to the Young Vic.
He will be seen opposite Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley in the film The Imitation Game, opening today. He also appears in Matthew Vaughn’s comic book spy film Kingsman: The Secret Service and the comedy adventure Grimsby, where he and Sacha Baron Cohen play brothers separated at birth.
And then there’s the possibility of A View From The Bridge being shown at cinemas via NT Live. But that deal is still being worked on.