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 David Geffen/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 plays--including Alma, In His Hands, and the very bottom of a body of water--explore familiar, intimate relationships grounded in an emotional realism but allow the environment, time, and objects to invite elements of the surreal, absurd, expressionistic, and supernatural into the fabric of their worlds. These works also center movement and sensory experiences of the human body to ask existential questions with wit and an imagistic dramaturgy.
Ben 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 2017-18 McKnight Playwriting Fellowship and 2016-17 Many Voices 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 plays--including Alma, In His Hands, and the very bottom of a body of water--explore familiar, intimate relationships grounded in an emotional realism but allow the environment, time, and objects to invite elements of the surreal, absurd, expressionistic, and supernatural into the fabric of their worlds. These works also center movement and sensory experiences of the human body to ask existential questions with wit and an imagistic dramaturgy.
Ben 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 2017-18 McKnight Playwriting Fellowship and 2016-17 Many Voices Fellowship. Benjamin is represented by Paradigm Talent Agency, and selected works are available to read in full at New Play Exchange.
FORTHCOMING PRODUCTIONS:
MANNING (Carlotta/thesis production) - David Geffen/Yale School of Drama's Iseman Theater (New Haven, CT)
December 16 - 18, 2021
ALMA (World Premiere - in cooperation with ABT) - CTG Kirk Douglas Theatre (Los Angeles)
March 6 - April 3, 2022
ALMA (Seattle Premiere) - ArtsWest Playhouse (Seattle)
May 5 - 22, 2022
IN HIS HANDS (World Premiere) - Mosaic Theater Company (DC)
June 22 - July 17, 2022
ALMA (World Premiere) - American Blues Theater (Chicago)
TBD Fall 2022
MANNING (Carlotta/thesis production) - David Geffen/Yale School of Drama's Iseman Theater (New Haven, CT)
December 16 - 18, 2021
ALMA (World Premiere - in cooperation with ABT) - CTG Kirk Douglas Theatre (Los Angeles)
March 6 - April 3, 2022
ALMA (Seattle Premiere) - ArtsWest Playhouse (Seattle)
May 5 - 22, 2022
IN HIS HANDS (World Premiere) - Mosaic Theater Company (DC)
June 22 - July 17, 2022
ALMA (World Premiere) - American Blues Theater (Chicago)
TBD Fall 2022
