Nicole Cooper (Beatrice), to star in The Tron Theatre’s A View from the Bridge, the opening production from new Artistic Director Jemima Levick
Opening on February 21st at The Tron Theatre, Glasgow, we spoke with the award-winning performer to discuss their role as Beatrice, the production itself, and what to expect from Levick’s first season as the Tron Theatre’s Artistic Director.
A View From the Bridge – Tron Theatre
Already causing a stir with audiences at The Tron Theatre, Arthur Miller’s 1955 A View from the Bridge is revolutionised for contemporary audiences, as Levick sets the story of family, poverty, displacement, and obsessive love in contemporary Brooklyn. Along with the rest of Jemima Levick’s inaugural season as the Tron Theatre’s new Artistic Director (taking over from Andy Arnold), the opening show of the season was announced two weeks following the news of a Trump victory.
And though it was obviously known ahead of time what form of world the season would open into, it seems that for Levick, Nicole Cooper (Beatrice), and the cast and crew of A View from the Bridge, the play’s themes and touch-points were already primed for the world we were living in – irrespective of a Trump return or not, “It was almost very much the latter, there was no doubt those themes of immigration and displacement, and the idea of love being displaced or misplaced; that has all been heightened because of it. These are all things we talked about way back when I first started speaking to Jemima about the show”. And through all of these discussions, there was always an edge to the role of Beatrice, one which resonated from the production’s original settings, through time, and towards contemporary audiences; “What I’ve actually found which has resonated with me the most is much more specifically this women is how she’s holding the weight of all the stuff which is happening, which is true to a 1950s housewife, it’s true to a 1990s housewife, and it’s true a 2025 housewife, mother, business owner, or homemaker”.
Despite the pair’s status as contemporary pillars of performance and direction within the Scottish theatrical circles, A View from the Bridge marks the first true collaboration between Cooper and Levick (outside of the occasional passing moment during A Play, A Pie, and A Pint). And now, as Cooper lets us know, working with Levick was one of their favourite parts of the job ahead of the intense rehearsals, ‘being able to watch Jemima in her strength, She is so astute, and sharp, and she has a really clear idea of where she wants to steer things, but she manages to convey that information in a way that feels collaborative and open’. Beyond this, though, Levick’s handling of A View from the Bridge offers the first insight into The Tron Theatre under Levick’s helm, a prospect many have been anticipating, and one in which Cooper has complete confidence after working with Levick, ‘She’s been a real inspiration to be in the room with, I’m loving her way of working’.
But it wasn’t entirely an easy switch-up for Cooper, who opens up about the struggles of existing in a space and performing the role of a person who doesn’t initially answer back and allows themselves to be pushed and pushed and pushed, “There are times where Jemima just says ‘not yet’. That’s what I mean by her being so astute and not missing any detail. We’re working on the smallest of details here.”. With a solid cast behind them and a nod to the resonating stage design offering additional elements for the cast to work with, Cooper takes a moment to address the back and forth they share with Mark Holgate, playing Beatrice’s husband Eddie, and how the character’s twenty-plus years together leads to intensive moments, how they know one another ‘inside and out’ and exist on the same plain. And how this all bubbles within the play, with Beatrice second guessing her husband’s thoughts and actions, leading to ‘One of the most exciting read-throughs I’ve ever done, we were just so desperate to make eye contact, we wanted to lift it up and connect – we couldn’t wait to get up and stuck in.’
Despite the pair’s status as contemporary pillars of performance and direction within the Scottish theatrical circles, A View from the Bridge marks the first true collaboration between Cooper and Levick (outside of the occasional passing moment during A Play, A Pie, and A Pint). And now, as Cooper lets us know, working with Levick was one of their favourite parts of the job ahead of the intense rehearsals, ‘being able to watch Jemima in her strength, She is so astute, and sharp, and she has a really clear idea of where she wants to steer things, but she manages to convey that information in a way that feels collaborative and open’. Beyond this, though, Levick’s handling of A View from the Bridge offers the first insight into The Tron Theatre under Levick’s helm, a prospect many have been anticipating, and one in which Cooper has complete confidence after working with Levick, ‘She’s been a real inspiration to be in the room with, I’m loving her way of working’.
With the opening of Levick’s new season, and a year in which so many new artistic directors will step into the helm of so many of the country’s major producing houses, where long-dormant venues re-open as the wind of possibility – and the teenage years of Scottish Theatre – are coming to fruition in Cooper’s eyes, ‘It’s scary, don’t get me wrong, but it feels exciting with this mentality of “why can’t we have productions that are big like Wild Rose, why can’t we have reimagining’s of classics like A View from the Bridge…” We should be showing off the talent we have, and it feels like maybe 2025 is the time we start to do this more and be less embarrassed about it. To have a bit of a strop and make mistakes’ And this energy is carried through to Cooper’s admiration for Scottish Theatre and the creatives, ‘I’ve always admired that about Scottish Theatre: we always pack a big punch’.
Many of these ‘big punches’ have come from Cooper themselves, playing award-winning and critically celebrated roles in Scottish Theatre, least not their notable performances as Coriolanus and Medea for Bard in the Botanics. On the opportunities to play roles such as Hamlet or Coriolanus, Cooper is adamant on how it has shaped how they few their career and the opportunities out there for performers, ‘Those are particular highlights – they fundamentally changed the way I work within a company, I think it’s a thing which I wish ever female-identifying actor would get a chance to play what is typically a male character, typically in a classical canon because those roles are written so differently to the female characters in Shakespeare’.
While looking forward to the year ahead of Scottish, Cooper was kind enough to share their experiences with the audition processes and snippets of insider information for readers who are stepping out into professional performances: ‘My attitude towards auditioning changed when I was auditioning, Ibsen as it happens, and I got very far, the final two. And I was devastated – I really was’. For Cooper, there was a shift in the process and the function of an actor within the space, ‘you’re at your strength when you can fully commit to your version, particularly in the audition, your version of that person and if it aligns with the director’s- lucky you’
StarringCooper, Holly Howden Gilchrist, Reuben Joseph, Mark Holgate, Michael Guest, and Nicholas Karimi, Levick’s debut production for The Tron Theatre’s 2025 season is already receiving strong reception from critics and audiences, it’s contemporary replacement offering that edge for the world we live in, and plenty of emotion, and displaced love, for Cooper to add Beatrice to their list of noteworthy roles.
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