Ben Humphrey

Artistic Director

Ben graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) and is an Associate of the London Academy of Dramatic Art.

Ben is currently the Senior Creative Consultant to the National Trust for Scotland and is working on the development of a new adventure series for children, Timesliders. Ben is formerly the Associate Director and then Artistic Director of the Worcester Repertory Company. In 2019 he became Artistic Director of Tortive Theatre and in 2024 also became Artistic Director of The Straw Yard in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

As an actor he has countless professional credits to his name including successful seasons in London, Stratford-upon-Avon and with international tours.

Directing credits include; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Trojan Women, Happy Birthday, Dick Whittington, Cinderella, The Comedy of Errors (which transferred to the National Theatre of Romania in Craiova for the International Shakespeare Festival in 2016) and the sell-out 800th Anniversary production of William Shakespeare’s King John produced around the tomb of the King himself in 2016. He followed this with another sell-out production, Othello, in the same venue in 2017.

In 2009 Ben became the youngest member of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators (GoDA) and served as a member of its national council for five years. He adjudicates all over the globe at Full Length, One-Act and Speech and Drama Festivals. He is a theatre reviewer and critic for various publications and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists.

He was a lecturer and Associate Research Fellow with the University of Worcester and a specialist lecturer with Staffordshire University.

In 2012 Ben was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and in 2016 was honoured to have been made a Patron of the Royal Air Force Theatrical Association.