
28/07/11 » A plunge into the unknown
Ben is contributing to an extraordinary experimental show, I AM CHARLIE, in Hackney this weekend, combining dance, physical theatre, clowning, fire-eating and performance poetry as its audience moves through the many fractured rooms of a disused warehouse.
21/07/11 » Eurovision comedy for September
Benet is to direct Jonathan Harvey's BOOM BANG-A-BANG on the London fringe in September. It will be a welcome addition to his repertoire of contemporary British revivals, which range from Ben Elton's Popcorn (2001) to Damages (2009).
18/03/11 » New Trailer for HOWIE THE ROOKIE
Benet's most acclaimed production is hoping to return in the autumn for a UK tour. Can you help us?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWi7ya1prhY
14/03/11 » IL TABARRO raises another £1,700 for charity
Benet's concert staging of Puccini's IL TABARRO raised £1,700 for charity at its performance on Saturday night. The concert, based on his staging of the one-act opera several years ago, followed an earlier charity performance in November last year which raised a similar amount.
08/02/11 » LARAMIE triumphs
The performances of THE LARAMIE PROJECT over the weekend were outstanding, ranking among the best work of Benet's career. He hopes to return to the show sometime in the future.
05/01/11 » Benet to return to Stratford
Following the success of his ROALD DAHL PROJECT last summer, Benet has been invited back to Year Out Drama to direct a new production. He will be staging Moises Kaufman's contemporary masterpiece, THE LARAMIE PROJECT, which he has wanted to do for many years.
21/11/10 » Life After ends its life
LIFE AFTER closed last night to an enthusiastic near-capacity audience at the end of a run of 27 performances.
12/11/10 » Reviews mixed but production praised
The few reviews which have so far appeared for LIFE AFTER at New End have been mixed for the play but strong for the production and the cast. "inventive staging and ingenious lighting" (Fringe Review ****); "visually striking and fluid" (Ham & High); "uniformly strong cast" (Camden New Journal); "Benet Catty does an excellent job" (The Stage).
08/11/10 » Opera raises £1,000+
Saturday's performance of IL TABARRO which Benet directed at St James Piccadily has raised over £1,000 for cancer research. There are plans to restage it in March 2011.
26/10/10 » LIFE AFTER now running
Benet's production of LIFE AFTER is now playing at New End Theatre, Hampstead, London until November 20th. Tickets available (details to the left).
29/09/10 » LIFE AFTER Cast
Casting for LIFE AFTER is now complete. The exceptional company will include Russell Bentley, David Burt, Daniel Gosling,Fiz Marcus, Jennifer Matter, Luke Stevenson.
28/09/10 » LIFE AFTER Team
For his production of LIFE AFTER, Benet will be reuniting with the team with whom he created last year's acclaimed revivals of HOWIE THE ROOKIE and DAMAGES: designer Nicola Dobrowolski and sound designer Simon Perkin, with Benet designing the lighting as he always does. Reviews of his/their previous work in these areas can be found throughout this website.
24/08/10 » Il Tabarro to return to London
Benet is to direct a revised version of his 2008 production of Puccini's IL TABARRO for a one-off performance at St James' Church, Piccadilly, on November 6th- ten days after the opening of LIFE AFTER at New End.
22/06/10 » Autumn Return to New End with new play
Benet will be returning to New End Theatre - where he directed his first freelance project, A Handful of Rain, in 2002 and has staged several one-offs - to direct Andrew Olins' debut play LIFE AFTER. It opens on October 26th.
14/06/10 » Top Marks for Stratford Dahl Show
After 3 weeks' rehearsal, THE ROALD DAHL PROJECT received warm responses at its performances at the weekend. The cast of 26 students, with whom Benet shaped the material, delivered a terrific piece for the Year Out Drama Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.
19/05/10 » Roald Dahl Project revived for Stratford
Benet has been asked to re-work his ROALD DAHL PROJECT for the Year Out Drama Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. He first created the piece, which is now to be expanded, with students at ArtsEd five years ago. Coincidentally, he returns to ArtsEd to do a project next month.
30/04/10 » Benet commissioned to write stage play
Benet has been commissioned to write a play based on the life of a well-known journalist for a planned run next year. He will be working on this into the summer.
26/04/10 » Ben to return to ArtsEd
Ben is delighted to be returning to Arts Educational to direct an in-house second year project based around the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical CAROUSEL. He has worked there twice before but not in several years.
26/03/10 » Benet directs student musical workshops
Benet's staged readings of three new musicals were warmly received last night at Goldsmiths. All three were written by students on the MA in Musical Theatre at the South London college.
06/01/10 » Return to Stratford
Benet is to return to Year Out Drama in Stratford-upon-Avon to direct Moises Kaufman's masterpiece THE LARAMIE PROJECT- a play he has wanted to direct for ten years.
16/12/09 » Benet collects Best Director trophy
Benet was finally presented with his award for Best Director for his production of Katty Pearce's one act comedy TABOOED by playwright Mark Ravenhill today at a champagne reception. Benet directed Ravenhill's SHOPPING & F***ING at the Edinburgh Festival seven years ago.
10/10/09 » Benet steps in to direct Shakespeare at Scoop
At 24 hours notice, Benet has been asked to direct three staged readings of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night and As You Like It as part of Bardfest at The Scoop which will take place at the end of the month.
27/07/09 » DAMAGES closes
DAMAGES closed to an enthusiastic capacity audience, including a queue for returns, on Saturday night. The show played to well over 500 people and has been a considerable success for producers Lucid Muse.
16/07/09 » DAMAGES reviews
The reviews for DAMAGES are in. Fringe Review gives it the maximum five stars describing it as "unforgettable"; Remotegoat (****) praises its "detail, care and assurance"; Time Out calls it "well-paced" and "fiendishly smart"; British Theatre Guide "funny, entertaining and often thought-provoking"; Extra Extra calls it "faultless". Overall DAMAGES received 4 raves, 2 mixed and 1 negative review.
14/07/09 » DAMAGES now playing!
Benet's production of DAMAGES is now playing until July 25th. Tickets available this week.
27/05/09 » Times critic raves raves about TABOOED
Times critic Jeremy Kingston has written a rave review of Katty Pearce's comedy TABOOED which was part of the Lost Festival. See TABOOED press page.
27/05/09 » TABOOED wins Best Director Award
Benet has won the Lost Festival's Best Director Award 2009 for his production of Katty Pearce's TABOOED. Last year he won the Best New Writing Award for his play ALL TALK from the same festival.
11/05/09 » TABOOED sold out
Tickets have now sold out for Benet's one night only production of Katty Pearce's fantastic comedy TABOOED, as part of the Lost Festival at New End on Wednesday 13th May.
18/04/09 » HOWIE receives posthumous rave
Three weeks since HOWIE THE ROOKIE closed, the Irish Post has finally published its review which, like many others, is a 4-star rave calling it "enthralling until the end".
16/04/09 » Single Fare returns for a(nother) single night
SINGLE FARE TO ZURICH, the one act play about assisted suicide which Benet directed last November, is to play a one off performance at the Lost Theatre Festival on May 5th, the week before the performance of Katty's Pearce's TABOOED.
06/04/09 » Ben returns to Old Red Lion in July
Benet has been asked by theatre company Lucid Muse to direct their production of Steve Thompson's newspaper comedy DAMAGES. It opens at the Old Red Lion, where HOWIE THE ROOKIE closed on Saturday, on July 7th.
04/04/09 » HOWIE closes
HOWIE closed tonight to another packed house, with a queue for returns waiting outside. Options are being considered for a future life for the production.
02/04/09 » Rave reviews keep coming...
With HOWIE's final week selling to capacity audiences and ending to tumultuous cheering, the rave reviews keep on coming. See the HOWIE press page.
31/03/09 » Benet's HOWIE "darker, dirtier and more dangerous" than the original
Irish World has given HOWIE an ecstatic review, praising the actors, direction, design, lighting, sound and atmospehere and saying it is better than the original Bush Theatre staging.
Some seats available on Thursday.
28/03/09 » HOWIE plays to standingovation
HOWIE's capacity audience last night gave actors Kieran Gough and Johnny Vivash a rapturous, cheering standingovation at the curtain call. The production closes next Saturday, April 4th. There are still tickets available for most performances.
25/03/09 » HOWIE is critics choice!
In addition to its clean sweep of good reviews so far, HOWIE THE ROOKIE is today Critics Choice in Time Out. Tickets remain available for the run, which ends April 4th.
23/03/09 » HOWIE 's first reviews FOUR STARS!
The first reviews are in. HOWIE THE ROOKIE gets 4-stars from Time Out who praises Benet Catty's "disciplined, sharply acted restaging" and calls stars Vivash and Gough "magnetic". Whatonstage also gives 4 stars, calling it a "wholly visceral experience" with the actors' "admirable slickness and humour". Two other websites, British Theatre Guide and Extra Extra, which don't have a star system, are also raves.