CASTING CALL

Brighton Open Air Theatre & The Conor Baum Company

A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller

Brighton Open Air Theatre and The Conor Baum Company are seeking performers for a co-production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, opening at Brighton Open Air Theatre on Wednesday 5 August 2026 and running through to Saturday 8 August, with five performances in total.

As immigration debates and stories of toxic masculinity dominate headlines across the globe, this visceral new outdoor staging burns with urgent contemporary relevance. In the shadow of the American Dream, Eddie Carbone welcomes two cousins illegally from abroad into his cramped apartment. But as fear of deportation tightens its grip and suspicions seep through the tenement walls, loyalty becomes dangerous currency. What begins as an act of generosity unlocks the fault lines already rippling through a family – initiating a spiral of obsession, jealousy, and acts that cannot be undone.

WHY WE TELL THIS STORY NOW

Miller wrote A View from the Bridge in 1955, but its central preoccupations have never felt more lively. Beyond its domestic drama, it is a play about the criminalisation of people who cross borders without permission, about what happens when the protection of a community is withdrawn, and the state moves in. It is a study in what masculinity costs, not just those around Eddie Carbone but Eddie himself, undone by a set of beliefs about manhood he has absorbed completely and cannot escape. And it is a play about belonging: about the conditionality of community, the codes that govern who is accepted and on what terms, and the violence – social and physical – that follows when those codes are enforced. Those questions are not historical. They are the questions of right now.

OUR CASTING APPROACH

We are passionate about honouring Arthur Miller’s original text, the play’s rich historical context, and the fundamental authenticity of its characters. At the same time, we are committed to a casting process that is deliberately and genuinely inclusive – one that reflects the evolving landscape of contemporary theatre and opens the door for talented performers from underrepresented backgrounds to engage with this classic work.

Miller’s play is rooted in the social realities of 1950s Red Hook, Brooklyn, but that world was not culturally homogenous, and the Italian American community at its centre was not a monolith. Italian Americans in New York were internally diverse by region, class, race, and degree of assimilation, and their communities existed in constant, generative contact with others.

It is also worth noting that early Italian and Sicilian immigrants to the United States, particularly those arriving from the south of Italy, frequently occupied a contested and ambiguous racial position. Sicilians and southern Italians were often perceived as, and in some contexts legally categorised alongside, non-white communities upon their arrival. This racial ambiguity is part of the lived history of Italian American identity and further undermines any assumption of its homogeneity. Italianness, in 1950s Brooklyn, was not a fixed or settled category.

Our casting approach is guided by a commitment to contextual authenticity rather than narrow literalism. This means that alonside white, cisgender and able-bodied actors, we are actively seeking submissions from performers from across the Global Majority, the LGBTQ+ community (inclusive of trans and nonbinary artists), and the disabled and neurodivergent community to bring their full selves to these roles.

This is not a conceptual reinterpretation of the play. The script, dialogue, and dramatic structure of A View from the Bridge will remain unchanged, with the potential singular exception of a gender-open casting of Alfieri. Casting choices will serve and deepen the play’s existing themes – immigration, belonging, masculinity, loyalty, and the collision between personal codes and legal systems – rather than redirect them. Where performers from different backgrounds to those written are cast, their identities will function as interpretive context rather than narrative revision. The emotional relationships, motivations, and stakes within the play remain central and unchanged. The real discoveries will happen collaboratively in the rehearsal room.

By widening the pool of performers who can inhabit these stories, we aim to illuminate the continuity between Miller’s original social world and the lived experience of contemporary audiences and to affirm that these stories belong to everyone.

ROLES

Character pronouns as used in the play are noted for each role below. Unless otherwise indicated, we welcome submissions from actors whose own pronouns match those of the character, across the full spectrum of gender identity and experience. We warmly encourage submissions from performers of the Global Majority, LGBTQ+ artists (including trans and nonbinary performers), and disabled and neurodivergent artists for every role listed.

EDDIE CARBONE
Eddie uses he/him pronouns in the play. We welcome submissions from actors who use he/him pronouns, including transmasculine actors and cis men of all backgrounds. Playing age 40-50s. A working-class longshoreman, respected in his community, traditional, loyal, and warm. At home he provides for his family with love and clear rules but something underneath is unresolved. His sexual relationship with Beatrice has grown cold, his feelings for Catherine are confused, and he is increasingly unable to master the clashes between loyalty, passion, reason, and justice. A demanding role requiring powerful stage presence and the ability to sustain a slow-burn psychological unravelling.

BEATRICE
Beatrice uses she/her pronouns in the play. We welcome submissions from actors who use she/her pronouns, including transfeminine actors and cis women of all backgrounds. Playing age 40s-50s. Eddie’s wife and Catherine’s surrogate mother. Quietly strong, practical, and perceptive. She is aware of the growing distance in her marriage and unsettled by the tensions the cousins’ arrival brings into the household. She battles to hold the peace, knowing that letting Catherine go may be the only way to save what she and Eddie have left.

CATHERINE
Catherine uses she/her pronouns in the play. We welcome submissions from actors who use she/her pronouns, including transfeminine actors and cis women of all backgrounds. Playing age late teens. Eddie and Beatrice’s niece. Bright, playful, and on the cusp of womanhood. She is deeply attached to Eddie, but Rodolpho’s arrival pulls her toward a future he cannot follow her into. Torn between loyalty and desire, she is forced to grow up quickly. A turbulent, emotionally demanding role requiring great range.

RODOLPHO
Rodolpho uses he/him pronouns in the play. We welcome submissions from actors who use he/him pronouns, including transmasculine and nonbinary actors and cis men of all backgrounds. Playing age mid to late 20s. Marco’s younger brother. Full of life, charismatic, and unguarded. He sings, cooks, and makes clothes, and is entirely unashamed of any of it. He has big dreams and a genuine romantic feeling for Catherine. His refusal to perform masculinity the way Eddie demands it is at the heart of the play’s central conflict. Italian accent.

MARCO
Marco uses he/him pronouns in the play. We welcome submissions from actors who use he/him pronouns, including transmasculine actors and cis men of all backgrounds. Playing age 30s. Rodolpho’s older brother. Physically capable, quietly authoritative, and entirely focused on the reason he came: to work and send money home to his wife and sick children in Sicily. Reserved and controlled on the surface, with a powerful sense of justice underneath. His composure, when it finally breaks, is devastating. Italian accent.

ALFIERI
Alfieri uses he/him pronouns in the play, though this role is gender-open. We welcome submissions from actors of any gender, including transfeminine, transmasculine, and nonbinary actors, and cis men and women of all backgrounds. Playing age 50s–60s. A community lawyer, once an immigrant themself, who understands the world Eddie inhabits from the inside. Alfieri functions as narrator and Greek chorus: a visionary who can see the shape of the tragedy before it arrives, and who is powerless to stop it. Reasonable, humane, and deeply caring. Present throughout.

ENSEMBLE x 2
The ensemble roles use he/him pronouns in the play, though these roles are gender-open. We welcome submissions from actors of any gender, including transfeminine, transmasculine, and nonbinary actors, and cis men and women of all backgrounds. We are looking to cast two performers who will share the following roles between them, with the division finalised collaboratively in rehearsal. Louis and Mike – longshoremen, friends of Eddie, playing age 30s–50s. Tony – a small supporting role. Immigration Officer 1 and Immigration Officer 2 – any playing age; one short but pivotal scene.

PAYMENT AND SCHEDULE

Each performer will receive a guaranteed minimum payment of £650 for their participation in the full rehearsal and performance period. In addition, the production will operate an equal profit-share arrangement. After the deduction of the agreed venue split, production costs, and expenses, any net profit generated by the production will be distributed equally among the cast and creative team. We are committed to full transparency throughout this process.

This structure reflects the financial realities of mounting a grassroots, independent theatre production while maintaining a commitment to fair and transparent compensation. It is intended as a first step toward achieving Equity minimum rates in future productions; however, at this stage the production does not yet have sufficient certainty regarding funding levels or box office response to guarantee those rates. We recognise that there will be performers who are therefore unable to participate, and we respect that entirely.

In recognition of the collaborative nature of a profit-share model, rehearsal scheduling will be arranged flexibly around cast availability, so that performers can maintain other sources of income during the rehearsal period. Rehearsals run from late June through to early August 2026. The only firm attendance requirement for the full company is the final week of rehearsals and all theatre call times for technical rehearsals, dress rehearsals, and performances. Outside of these periods, actors will be expected to engage in reasonable rehearsal calls in good faith.

Please note that rehearsals will take place at and in the vicinity of Brighton Open Air Theatre. Due to the nature of our payment structure, we strongly recommend that performers who submit are based in Brighton, Hove, or the surrounding region, or are able to travel to Brighton easily and at low cost during the rehearsal period.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Please send the following to conorbaumdirector@gmail.com by Sunday 24 May at 5pm:

• Spotlight link / current CV

• A headshot or recent photograph

• The role or roles you wish to be considered for

• A brief note (no more than a paragraph) on why you are interested in this production

• Any links to showreel or previous work (optional but welcome)

Auditions will take place in late May and early June. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted directly with times and details. We will do our best to accommodate access needs and scheduling requirements – please mention anything relevant when you submit.

We welcome submissions from performers at all career stages and are happy to answer any questions ahead of the deadline.