In A View from the Bridge, presented by the Alley Theatre of Houston Wednsday, playwright Arthur Miller addresses two major themes: the inadequacy of the law in providing solutions to all human problems and the consequences of suffocating paternalism.

"The law is just a word for what is supposed to happen," said Alfieri, a lawyer played by Bob Marich, in one scene.

Alfieri is approached by Eddie Carbone, who wants to find a way within the law to prevent an illegal immigrant from dating his adopted niece, whom Eddie loves obsessively. Played passionately by Philip LeStrange, Eddie is devastated by his niece Catherine's growing up and apart from him. His desperate, sexually-tinged love for her sends him into a jealous rage when she becomes involved with Rodolpho, a Sicilian immigrant who came to America secretly with his brother, Marco, and lives with the Carbone family.

Eddie tries to convince Alfieri that Rodolpho is homosexual because he is a striking platinum-blonde who enjoys singing, cooking and sewing. He believes this is sufficient grounds for stopping him from courting Catherine.

"That guy ain't right," Eddie insists. "I can't let him steal her away from me."

When Alfieri tells Eddie that there is no law to prevent the romance between Rodolpho and Catherine, Eddie calls the Department of Immigration in order to get Rodolpho and Marco deported, a practice he so righteously denounced at the beginning of the play. This is where his over-protective love for Catherine manifests itself as a cruel, irrational action against not only Rodolpho, but Cahterine, Marco and the whole community, which reveres trust.

It is at this point that another character becomes frustrated by the law's inability to render "justice." This time Marco, who came to America to make enough money to support his family living in Sicily, wants the law to punish Eddie for ratting on him and his brother.

"In Sicily, he would be dead!" cries Marco, played with brooding intensity by Brandon Smith, when he is visited by Alfieri in prison.

A View from the Bridge is a powerful drama rooted in Greek tragedy. It is filled with such Greek dramatic elements as inevitability and the use of a chorus to inform the audience of vital information. Alfieri served in this capacity in the play.

A View from the Bridge featured generally excellent acting; in addition to the inspired performances by LeStrange and Smith, Julie Bayer (MFA-acting) and Michael David Wright were captivating as the anguished young lovers. Holly Barron, who played Eddie's wife Beatrice --the character most hurt by Eddie's smothering possessiveness of Catherine - also portrayed her character strongly.

There were some problems with Alley's rendition of the play, however. Marich's grave, measured reading of Alfieri's lines rendered his characterization stiff and pompous. LeStrange's death scene at the play's climax was a bit hammy. And there was a surprising absence of any Italian-American actors in the play -- or at least any who really looked Italian. This was hard to believe (surely there is no shortage of Italian-American actors in the theater world) and detracted from the play's authenticity.

In typical Arthur Miller fashion, A View from the Bridge challenges some of the intuitions held dear in American life, in this case the power of the law to render justice and the role of the family in a young adult's life. It is a characteristically stormy Miller drama and was presented effectively by the Alley Theatre Company.