About me
I’m an Essex-based queer and non-binary writer, passionate about telling original stories of LGBTQ+ (and other) lives for diverse audiences. I’ve been selected as a Paines Plough Mentored Writer, a BAFTA Connect member and for the Criterion Theatre New Writing and Story Development Programmes, Soho Theatre Edinburgh Lab, Mercury Theatre Playwrights Programme and National Theatre Directors’ Course. I’m a Theatre503 dramaturg and was on their senior reader panel from 2020-23.
I directed/produced my play REALLY WANT TO HURT ME for my company Flaming Theatre, supported by Arts Council England/Soho Theatre Edinburgh Lab/Jerwood Space. It had an Edinburgh Fringe run at Assembly Hall and was programmed in the Soho Rising festival. Its UK tour visited venues including Theatre503, Old Red Lion, Sheffield Crucible, Nottingham Playhouse, Theatr Clwyd, Theatre Royal Plymouth and The Marlborough in Brighton. Brighton Fringe Award for Excellence shortlisted. The Guardian best online theatre list 2021. Playtext published with ACE support and in the Royal Court library.
Other plays include DEMONS, IS THIS DESIRE? (Theatre503 International Playwriting Award longlist, Bread & Roses Playwriting Award longlist), LULLA (top 100 plays, Verity Bargate Award; Omnibus Theatre production forthcoming), IN NEED (top 10% longlist, Verity Bargate Award; Full Disclosure Theatre showcase, Southwark Playhouse), HUNTERS (ScriptSpace reading at The Space), ECHO CHAMBER (ARC Stockton), KNOTS (Herstory Festival), DEATHCAMP [HOMELAND JINGLE] (published in New York playwriting journal The Dionysian). I co-directed/devised and produced JARMAN GARDEN (Riverside Studios), an Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award finalist, about the life of queer icon Derek Jarman.
Films: DEVELOP (Iris Prize Micro-Short Award finalist), DEMONS (BFI NETWORK South East Script Lab shortlist), SPYHOLE, SYMPTOMS MAY INCLUDE.
I started out as a director, including at The Vaults, Stratford East and Cambridge Shakespeare Festival, and assistant directed at Shakespeare’s Globe, Kali Theatre and Howard Barker’s Wrestling School.
Website: www.bensantamaria.com.
I directed/produced my play REALLY WANT TO HURT ME for my company Flaming Theatre, supported by Arts Council England/Soho Theatre Edinburgh Lab/Jerwood Space. It had an Edinburgh Fringe run at Assembly Hall and was programmed in the Soho Rising festival. Its UK tour visited venues including Theatre503, Old Red Lion, Sheffield Crucible, Nottingham Playhouse, Theatr Clwyd, Theatre Royal Plymouth and The Marlborough in Brighton. Brighton Fringe Award for Excellence shortlisted. The Guardian best online theatre list 2021. Playtext published with ACE support and in the Royal Court library.
Other plays include DEMONS, IS THIS DESIRE? (Theatre503 International Playwriting Award longlist, Bread & Roses Playwriting Award longlist), LULLA (top 100 plays, Verity Bargate Award; Omnibus Theatre production forthcoming), IN NEED (top 10% longlist, Verity Bargate Award; Full Disclosure Theatre showcase, Southwark Playhouse), HUNTERS (ScriptSpace reading at The Space), ECHO CHAMBER (ARC Stockton), KNOTS (Herstory Festival), DEATHCAMP [HOMELAND JINGLE] (published in New York playwriting journal The Dionysian). I co-directed/devised and produced JARMAN GARDEN (Riverside Studios), an Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award finalist, about the life of queer icon Derek Jarman.
Films: DEVELOP (Iris Prize Micro-Short Award finalist), DEMONS (BFI NETWORK South East Script Lab shortlist), SPYHOLE, SYMPTOMS MAY INCLUDE.
I started out as a director, including at The Vaults, Stratford East and Cambridge Shakespeare Festival, and assistant directed at Shakespeare’s Globe, Kali Theatre and Howard Barker’s Wrestling School.
Website: www.bensantamaria.com.
My Plays
I will add details of my plays soon.
