Ben Buratta

BA, MA

Job title

Course Leader, BA Acting (Collaborative and Devised Theatre); Senior Lecturer in Acting and Theatre Making

Courses

Acting (Collaborative and Devised Theatre), BA

Orcid ID

0000-0001-7855-3017

ben.buratta@cssd.ac.uk

Social media

Twitter @BenBuratta

Outbox Theatre

Institutional Repository

http://crco.cssd.ac.uk

Website

www.outboxtheatre.com

PDF Version

Profile

I am a theatre maker, director, teacher, and researcher. I am Course Leader for BA (Hons) Acting (Collaborative and Devised Theatre). I have directed plays and made work for many of the leading theatres in the UK including The Bush, Birmingham Rep, Contact, and The Royal Court. I am the founder and Artistic Director of Outbox, a company who collaborate with LGBTQIA+ performers, artists, and communities to make performance. My practice research and PHD study develops dramaturgies and rehearsal strategies to make theatre queerly. I am committed to inclusive and innovative forms of actor training that put the actor as artist at the centre.

I grew up and went to a comprehensive school in Swindon before graduating with a degree in Drama. I trained as an acting teacher at Central, gaining an MA in Actor Training and Coaching. I have worked as a director, actor trainer, and theatre practitioner in a variety of professional, educational, and community settings. I wrote and designed the Acting Diploma at Central and was Course Leader alongside running the short courses/summer school programmes. Prior to this role, I was Senior Lecturer on BA Contemporary Performance Practice teaching performance, acting, and devising skills and directing many large-scale productions. I have directed and taught extensively in leading drama schools and universities across the UK and internationally.

My theatre-making practice has led to partnerships and collaborations with many of the UK’s best regarded and internationally-significant arts organisations. As Artistic Director of Outbox, I set the artistic vision for the company which includes directing productions, overseeing the participation programme, developing artists, and consultation and policy-making. Outbox produces innovative actor training programmes and participatory projects in collaboration with venues including National Theatre, Royal Court, Southbank Centre, Leeds Playhouse, Bristol Old Vic, and Royal Exchange. Our productions can be seen in mainstream venues but also in unusual and diverse settings such as dancefloors, nightclubs, community halls and warehouses. Recent productions include GROOVE, (Shoreditch Town Hall and Contact), nominated for three Off-West End awards, And The Rest of Me Floats , ( **** ‘fuelled by a mixture of generosity and pride’. The Guardian, **** ‘a bold and beautifully constructed exploration of gender identity’. The Stage), The Bush Theatre and Birmingham Rep and published by Oberon books. This production has been recognised by the V&A, who have included a digital recording of it in the National Video Archive of Performance. Outbox have been consistently funded over the last decade and I have received multiple awards from Arts Council England and The National Lottery.

My practice research develops rehearsal strategies, methods of devising, and dramaturgies to establish a distinct approach to queer theatre-making. I have presented at conferences internationally including IFTR and ATHE and my article ‘Embodied Queer Pedagogies: Performing HIV Narratives on the Dance-Floor’ appears in the special edition on queer pedagogy of Theatre Topics, published in 2020. I am in the process of completing a practice-based PhD titled ‘Dance-floor Dramaturgy: New Approaches for Making Theatre Queerly’.