Jamie Kenna Will Lead A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE at Brighton Open Air Theatre

Brighton Open Air Theatre (BOAT) and The Conor Baum Company have announced the full company for their co-production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge, running from 5 to 8 August 2026 as part of BOAT's 2026 summer season. Jamie Kenna, best known as Ser Alfred Broome in HBO's House of the Dragon and Phill Whittaker in ITV's Coronation Street, leads the company as Eddie Carbone.

In a rare move for the play, the role of Alfieri, the lawyer who watches and narrates Miller's tragedy, will be played by a woman. Sharon Drain takes the role by special dispensation from the Arthur Miller estate, in what is believed to be only the second production ever permitted to present Alfieri as a woman.

The company also features Natalie Moon (Beatrice), Lucy Chamberlain (Catherine), Joshua Hogan (Rodolpho), Patrick McHugh (Marco), David Samson (Ensemble) and Benjamin Darlington (Ensemble).

The company was chosen following a competitive casting process that drew over 300 applications, after which the final eight were confirmed.

The production is directed by 2026 Offie Award winner and 2025 Brighton Fringe Outstanding Theatre Award winner, Conor Baum whose last three productions at Brighton Open Air Theatre have been met with critical acclaim.

Jamie Kenna is also a longstanding supporter of Brighton Open Air Theatre. He has appeared in outdoor productions at the venue since its first season and featured in the theatre's 2026 season announcement, and his casting as Eddie Carbone is a return to a stage he knows well.

Jamie Kenna says: 'I am beyond thrilled to be returning to Brighton Open Air Theatre, a venue I hold so close to my heart, in my beloved hometown of Brighton. There are certain parts I've wanted to play throughout my career, and right at the top of the list is Eddie Carbone. It's been on my bucket list ever since I left drama school. I saw Ken Stott do it many years ago, and I'm not getting any younger, so now's the time to do it. Arthur Miller is my favourite playwright, and this is one of my favourite plays. Conor is a huge talent, a really exciting directorial prospect, and a good friend, so I can't wait to collaborate with him and the rest of the company to bring this masterpiece to a stunning open-air venue. Get your tickets, because you do not want to miss this.'

Co-Producer and Director Conor Baum, Artistic Director of The Conor Baum Company, says: 'Casting this company has been one of the real privileges of the process. To bring together actors of this calibre, from House of the Dragon and the RSC to our own returning company members, has been a genuine thrill. I am especially proud that the Arthur Miller estate has granted us permission to present Alfieri as a woman. This play presents a world sometimes scarily close to our own, one that runs on male pride and possession. Putting the seat of reason and law in a woman's hands means the whole male catastrophe is watched and judged by someone who sees it clearly and can do nothing to stop it. In our production, I'm interested in her having had to escape the very code that destroys Eddie, so when she tells him to settle for half, she is a woman who settled herself and survived.'

Co-Producer Will Mytum, General Manager of Brighton Open Air Theatre says: 'We are absolutely thrilled with the cast Conor has put together. With such an exciting creative team on board, this production is demonstrating our commitment to producing high-quality, socially stimulating work, starring established actors at the top of their game as well as giving opportunities to early-career actors and local talent.'

About The Show

A longshoreman stands on the edge of the Brooklyn docks, the skyline glittering beyond him. The law is watching, and inside his own home, boundaries of familial responsibility have already begun to erode.

In this visceral new outdoor production of A View from the Bridge, Arthur Miller's electrifying tragedy burns with an urgent contemporary relevance. In the shadow of the American Dream, Eddie Carbone welcomes two cousins illegally from abroad into his family's already cramped apartment. They are men who have crossed an ocean without papers, chasing work, dignity, and survival. But as fear of deportation tightens its grip and suspicions seep through the tenement walls, loyalty becomes dangerous currency.

As immigration debates and toxic masculinity stories dominate headlines across the globe, this blistering new co-production from Brighton Open Air Theatre and the award-winning The Conor Baum Company (Homestead, Electra, Suddenly Last Summer) confronts timeless questions about the responsibilities we have to our families, and who has the right to belong.

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