Welcome
Ben is Co-Artistic Director of Scottish theatre company Grid Iron. He works almost exclusively in the field of location theatre and site-responsive work. He divides his time between his role with Grid Iron and as Regisseur of the Dutch theatre group Muztheater.
Recent projects include Grid Iron's first production for children, Pauline Mol's Once Upon A Dragon, a woodland promenade adventure for five to seven-year-olds in association with the Bank of Scotland Children's International Theatre Festival; Grid Iron's tenth anniversary production of Roam, co-produced with the National Theatre of Scotland, which was the world's first theatre production to take place in the airside and landside areas of a working airport; and Night Flight, for Muztheater, staged in an aircraft hangar in Den Helder Airport, the Netherlands.
For Grid Iron he has directed: Once Upon A Dragon; Roam (winner of five awards including the Best Production Award from the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland); The Devil's Larder (winner of four awards including the Herald Archangel, Total Theatre and Scotsman Fringe First Awards 2005); The Story of the Death of Najib Brax (British Council project in Beirut); Naw Nader Men Al Houb (Grid Iron and Takween (Jordan) co-production with the British Council); Those Eyes, That Mouth (winner of seven awards); Variety; Fermentation; Decky Does A Bronco (Scotsman Fringe First Award 2000), Monumental, Gargantua, (Fringe First Award); The Bloody Chamber (Herald Angel Award) and Clearance.
For Muztheater he has directed Aan de Zaan 01, Spaanse Schans, Night Flight, Romeo Delta and the current work-in-progress Kop vol Spijkers.
From 2000-2002 he was an Associate Director of the Almeida Theatre in London where he created the acclaimed Participatory Projects programme. His productions included Caledonian Road, A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, The Whizzkid, Decky Does A Bronco (UK tour co-produced with Grid Iron); Ghost Ward, The Last Valentine and Into Our Dreams.
He has taught site-responsive theatre in Lebanon, Jordan, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Scotland and England.
Latest News
May 2008
Ben spends a week at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol working with Rina Vergano on a rehearsed reading of her play for children The Tower.
Ben and Matthew Zajac spend a further week developing the script for The Tailor of Inverness, within the Grid Iron New Ideas Development Programme. The Tailor of Inverness is planned for performance at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe.
April 2008
Yarn opens at the Verdant Works, Dundee, on 19th April, running until 3rd May.
March 2008
Ben travels to Beirut to work with Saseen Kawzally on the further development of the script of Bint Jbeil. This trip is supported by the National Theatre of Scotland.
Ben returns to Stavanger with Judith Doherty and Becky Minto, (Designer) and Paul Claydon, (Lighting Designer) to work out the possibilities of working in Engoyholmen boat yard, the preferred site for the forthcoming Stavanger 2008 commission Tryst.
February 2008
Following a script development workshop in Dundee with the actors from Yarn, Ben is preparing the first rehearsal draft of Yarn for the commencement of rehearsals on March 17th.
January 2008
The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt, a production with second-year actors from Queen Margaret University, opens at Theatre Workshop on 22nd January, running until 26th January