The Mormon Bird Play, which Benington wrote, directed, designed and co-produced with Washington Ensemble Theatre. In 2011, his staging and design of Glenn Berger’s O Lovely Glowworm for New Century Theatre Company in Seattle garnered rave reviews, and earned him two Gregory Award nominations for Outstanding Direction and Design. In 2012 Benington’s work as a designer and director was seen at The Seattle Art Museum, in an art installation/opera titled O(PA)PERA written by Byron Au Yong, and at The Stella Adler Studio of Acting (NYC). This play was developed over a seven-month period through weekly collaboration with six New York actors. In response to this play and the body of work that he had created as a director in Seattle over several years, one local critic described Benington as “a major theatrical talent.” It had previously been seen in Seattle, in a co-production with Washington Ensemble Theatre. In 2015, he wrote, produced, directed and designed THE MORMON BIRD PLAY at The New York International Fringe Festival.
In October, 2017, Canal Cafe Theatre in London selected Benington’s script PSYCHOPOMP for inclusion in their “American Season,” giving the play its world premiere. His play “the pangs” set in Tooele, Utah–about a Mormon mother’s conversion to Islam after she meets a young illegal immigrant from Libya–was a semi-finalist in the 2020 PlayPenn Conference. His first South African play, The Bear’s Fur Coat, dramatized in epic fashion his experience as a gay conscript in the South African Army. He is currently working on a play set in Apartheid South Africa circa 1965. Over the past years, playwriting has become Roger’s main focus. Benington was a recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors (03-05). Mellon Foundation’s Young Artist Fellowship to study directing at The Juilliard School with JoAnne Akalaitis, Michael Kahn, and Garland Wright. He holds an MFA in Theatre Directing from the University of Utah and was awarded The Andrew W. Director, designer and playwright ROGER BENINGTON was born in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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