Latest News

May 2024

Develop, a short film that Ben wrote and made with a team of BAFTA Connect filmmakers, has its UK premiere on Screen 1 at Rich Mix in East London on 9th May. This “Women in Revolt” showcase evening is presented by award-winning Shorts On Tap ("the hippest film night in London" - Londonist).

April 2024

Ben was selected as a Mentored Writer by Paines Plough and one of their partner venues, the Mercury Theatre, for a year of dramaturgical support to develop a new play. This 2024-25 cohort of mentored writers launches in the second year of Paines Plough’s Tour the Writer development programme, which takes place as the acclaimed company celebrates its 50th year.

February 2023

Ben’s play Is This Desire? was longlisted for the Theatre503 International Playwriting Award from 1466 entries.

June 2021

Ben was selected for the 2021-22 Mercury Playwrights programme at the Mercury Theatre Colchester. They’re developing a new play through two drafts over nine months alongside other East England-based playwrights, led by award-winning writer Kenny Emson and a range of guest artists.

March 2021

Ben was invited to take part in the Criterion Theatre Story Development Group, following on from the New Writing Programme they completed there in March 2020. Course leader Greg Mosse facilitated a group of 3 writers in developing ideas and writing treatments for their new plays.

February-July 2021

Flaming Theatre’s 2018 Edinburgh Fringe preview performance of Really Want to Hurt Me at Theatre503 was featured in The Guardian’s Hottest Front-Room Seats pick of the best shows to watch online. It reached 2000 views, the same number of audience members who saw the show live on its UK tour.

October 2020

Ben took part in HighTide theatre company’s Write That Play playwriting programme from April-June, led by award-winning writer Dawn King over 10 wide-ranging Zoom workshops. Participants were invited to submit the drafts they’d worked on during the course to HighTide for industry feedback.

Ben received an encouraging response from London artists’ agency and production company The Queer House for the opening scenes they submitted from Is This Desire?, their current work in progress:

“The characters, structure and plot are really good in this piece. I love your style and identity - it really comes through. The exploration of desire and unlikely relationships are great and I think you are representing characters we don’t see often and that is exciting. I would definitely recommend completing this play as it has real promise.”

September 2020

Symptoms May Include, a new short film that Ben wrote for the Virtual Collaborators Festival, was screened alongside live performances in the festival’s outdoor event at St. John’s Church in Leytonstone on 12-13 September. You can watch it online here. Ben collaborated with filmmaker Tom Shennan and actors Theo Harrison and Elizabeth Twells (collectively called The Virtuals) to create the film remotely in July-August.

August 2020

Ben’s new play In Need reached the top 10% of 1493 entries for Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award.

Ben’s play Lulla had reached the top 100 plays longlist for the award last time.

In Need was developed from a short play written for one of Theatre503’s Rapid Write Response showcases. That version was later selected for Full Disclosure Theatre’s sold-out Xposed new writing showcase in The Large at Southwark Playhouse and directed by Kennedy Bloomer. Theatre Weekly called it “a touching and funny portrayal of class differences, wonderfully brought to life by Hannah Lawrence and Georgia Taylforth” in their ★★★★★ review.

May 2020

Ben’s short screenplay Spyhole was picked by new writing company Sharp Scratches to be filmed for their Online Monologue Series.

Jenet Le Lacheur performed and directed this comic thriller about a young trans woman’s surprising experience of lockdown. You can watch it here.

April 2020

You can now revisit Flaming Theatre’s 2018 Edinburgh Fringe preview performance of Really Want to Hurt Me online here. Ben and Ryan tested out the Edinburgh-retooled production on a sold-out crowd at Theatre503 before heading off to Scotland for a successful month’s run at Assembly Hall.

Theatre503 programmed the show again in their Best of the Fest season for 3 nights in November, where it received its second ★★★★★ review from Boyz magazine to add to their Edinburgh one.

The production was developed further for the 2019 UK tour with new choreography and an expanded script (included in the published playtext).

April 2020

The opening scenes of Ben’s latest work-in-progress play, Is This Desire?, were longlisted from 330 entries for Flux Theatre’s Emerge new writing showcase.

Ben started developing the piece earlier this year on the Criterion Theatre New Writing Programme.

Is This Desire? takes its title from PJ Harvey’s classic 1998 album.

January 2020

Ben started the new decade on the Criterion Theatre New Writing Programme. Writer, teacher, editor and script consultant Greg Mosse led a group of writers through 6 workshops on the Criterion’s stage in Piccadilly Circus to develop their craft and start to write for a West End theatre. Actors performed scenes onstage that the group had written between sessions and shared feedback. It was a wonderful experience with a genuinely supportive bunch of writers and finished just in the nick of time - only the final session had to move to Zoom in lockdown!