Benjamin Benne (he/him) is a playwright, puppeteer, and theater artist. Born and raised in Los Angeles County, Ben has lived in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest but now resides on the East Coast, where he is a Yale School of Drama MFA Candidate in Playwriting. He is a current member of the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group at Primary Stages (NYC) and under commission from South Coast Repertory Theatre (Costa Mesa, CA).
Like Ben, his work has been seen coast to coast (and a few points in the middle): The Old Globe (CA), Boston Court Pasadena (CA), Teatro Milagro (OR), Seattle Repertory Theatre (WA), ACT Theatre (WA), Theatre Battery (WA), Denver Center for the Performing Arts (CO), Texas Tech University (TX), The Playwrights’ Center (MN), Pillsbury House Theatre (MN), Two River Theater (NJ), The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center (CT), The Playwrights Realm (NYC), The Lark (NYC), and Roundabout Theatre Company (NYC), among others.
His gently poetic and exceedingly intimate plays--including Alma, In His Hands, and the very bottom of a body of water--feature vivid images that take on deep symbolic resonance; these works center on movement and sensory experiences of the human body to ask existential questions with wit and an expressionistic dramaturgy.
He is the recipient of Portland Stage's 2020 Clauder Competition Gold Prize, Arizona Theatre Company's 2019 National Latinx Playwriting Award, American Blues Theater’s 2019 Blue Ink Playwriting Award, the Kennedy Center's KCACTF 2019 Latinx Playwriting Award, the 2017 Robert Chesley/Victor Bumbalo Playwriting Award, a Playwrights’ Center 2016-17 Many Voices Fellowship, and 2017-18 McKnight Playwriting Fellowship. Benjamin is represented by Paradigm Talent Agency, and selected works are available to read in full at New Play Exchange.
Like Ben, his work has been seen coast to coast (and a few points in the middle): The Old Globe (CA), Boston Court Pasadena (CA), Teatro Milagro (OR), Seattle Repertory Theatre (WA), ACT Theatre (WA), Theatre Battery (WA), Denver Center for the Performing Arts (CO), Texas Tech University (TX), The Playwrights’ Center (MN), Pillsbury House Theatre (MN), Two River Theater (NJ), The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center (CT), The Playwrights Realm (NYC), The Lark (NYC), and Roundabout Theatre Company (NYC), among others.
His gently poetic and exceedingly intimate plays--including Alma, In His Hands, and the very bottom of a body of water--feature vivid images that take on deep symbolic resonance; these works center on movement and sensory experiences of the human body to ask existential questions with wit and an expressionistic dramaturgy.
He is the recipient of Portland Stage's 2020 Clauder Competition Gold Prize, Arizona Theatre Company's 2019 National Latinx Playwriting Award, American Blues Theater’s 2019 Blue Ink Playwriting Award, the Kennedy Center's KCACTF 2019 Latinx Playwriting Award, the 2017 Robert Chesley/Victor Bumbalo Playwriting Award, a Playwrights’ Center 2016-17 Many Voices Fellowship, and 2017-18 McKnight Playwriting Fellowship. Benjamin is represented by Paradigm Talent Agency, and selected works are available to read in full at New Play Exchange.
FORTHCOMING PRODUCTIONS IN 2022:
ALMA (World Premiere) - American Blues Theater (Chicago)
ALMA (Seattle Premiere) - ArtsWest Playhouse (Seattle)
IN HIS HANDS (World Premiere) - Mosaic Theater Company (DC)
ALMA (World Premiere) - American Blues Theater (Chicago)
ALMA (Seattle Premiere) - ArtsWest Playhouse (Seattle)
IN HIS HANDS (World Premiere) - Mosaic Theater Company (DC)
