A Conversation with Ben Naylor
Spelman College Department of Theatre and Performance presents A Conversation with Ben Naylor. Ben Naylor is the Dean of British American Drama Academy (BADA). This event will happen on Tuesday, April 8 at 1 p.m - 2:15 p.m in the RAB 140 (multi-purpose room).
Founded in 1984, the British American Drama Academy is the only drama school in Great Britain specifically created to immerse students from the United States in the traditions of the British conservatoire. More than 95% of the students study abroad at BADA from the United States to learn from leading actors and directors of the British stage and to absorb the traditions and techniques of the British theatre. The intensive short courses and the rigourous semester long programmes not only offer training in technique but also deepen understanding and forge strong cross-cultural connections.
Ben Naylor is a British/German-Jewish theatre-maker: a director, teacher, scholar, writer, and sometime actor. In September 2023, he joined BADA, the British American Drama Academy, as Dean. From 2006 until the summer of 2023, he worked at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, where he was a Senior Lecturer in Acting and Course Leader of MA Acting (Classical). After studying Ancient History and Theology at Durham and Oxford, he trained as a director with Sir Peter Hall at the National Theatre, with John Caird at the Caird Company, with David Lan, and others at the Young Vic, and assisting in the West End. He subsequently trained as an actor at Drama Centre London under Reuven Adiv, John Beschizza, James Kemp, and Liana Nyquist. Naylor has directed numerous productions, readings, and workshops, and has taught at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Young Vic, LAMDA, Shakespeare Centre, FSU Theatre Academy London, UConn, and Cambridge University. He has worked extensively internationally, in the USA, Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, Israel, Australia, and Aotearoa/New Zealand. He has also acted professionally, including in the multi award-winning independent film Control. No preparation necessary.