Ben Crystal
Encyclopedia
Ben Crystal is a British actor, author, and producer, best known for his work on making William Shakespeare
more accessible. He has been referred to as "the Jamie Oliver of Shakespeare" by BBC Radio 5
for trying to make the plays accessible to all.
, England, and grew up in Wokingham
, and Holyhead
, North Wales. He studied English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University
between 1995 and 1998, before training as an actor
between 1998 and 1999. After leaving drama school he studied methods from the theatre companies Complicite
and Frantic Assembly, particularly under Annabel Arden and Monika Pagneux.
In 1999 he began to write Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion (Penguin 2002), with his father, David Crystal
, and has been acting and writing for the last ten years, most notably in 2003 playing a guest lead in the BBC1 drama series Holby City
, for which he became fluent in British Sign Language
, and for the 2006 summer season at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
.
He regularly gives workshops and talks on Shakespeare literature festivals around the world, including the Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, the Edinburgh International Book Festival
, the Oxford Literary Festival, Dartington's Ways With Words Festival, and the Cheltenham Literature Festival
, and particularly since the publication of Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard. The Guardian newspaper said the book contained "gems of close reading and theatrically focused attention throughout".
In 2011 he was invited to play Hamlet by Eric Rasmussen and Rob Gander for the Nevada Repertory Company, opening November 2011. The production will be entirely spoken in Original Pronunciation, the accent Shakespeare and his company would have spoken in, the first production of its kind for four centuries.
He is the son of renowned linguist David Crystal
.
", directed by Jon Avnet
and starring alongside stars such as Hank Azaria
, Jon Voight
and Donald Sutherland
..
: Ernst Robel (2000) - directed by Andrew Harries (Bath Theatre Royal)
Twelfth Night: Curio (2005) - directed by Patrick Mason
(National Tour/Thelma Holt
)
Titus Andronicus
: Alarbus (2006) - directed by Lucy Bailey
(Shakespeare's Globe)
The Comedy of Errors
: Luce (2006) - directed by Christopher Luscombe (Shakespeare's Globe)
Rough For Theatre 2: B / Ohio Impromptu: Reader (2007) - directed by Jonathon Heron (Fail Better)
Caligula
: Scipio (2007) - directed by Giles Gartrell-Mills (Talon Arts)
One Minute
: DC Robert Evans (2008) - directed by Robert Wolstenholme (shiningman)
The Night Before Christmas: Simon Templer (2009) - directed by Robert Wolstenholme (Signal Theatre Company)
King Lear
: Edgar (2010) - directed by Daniel Winder (Iris Theatre Company)
A Midsummer Night's Dream
: Demetrius (2011) - directed by Daniel Winder (Iris Theatre Company)
Hamlet
: Hamlet (2011) - directed by Rob Gander (Nevada Repertory Company)
(2008). Their second production was a new play by Robin French
, Gilbert is Dead, a Victorian-Darwinian melo-drama set in a taxidermy museum in 1861. They chose the grade II* listed building Hoxton Hall
, built in 1865 and one of London's last standing Victorian Music Halls, as the theatre in which to perform the play.
In 2010, Crystal set up Passion in Practice with theatre director Daniel Winder, whose remit is to explore fresh approaches to acting Shakespeare.
: Ade Crowe (Guest Lead) (2003) - directed by Richard Platt
The Bill
: Mark Johnson (2001) - directed by Michael Owen Morris.
- Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion (Penguin 2002), and The Shakespeare Miscellany (Penguin, 2005). The first took three years to write, and the second, three months. Crystal wrote his first solo book, Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard (Icon, 2008), in part while acting at Shakespeare's Globe
in 2006. His first non-Shakespeare book, Sorry, I'm British! (Oneworld, 2010), was co-written with colleague Adam Russ, who had acted with Crystal in Spring Awakening
in 2000.
TV series The Salon
. and voiced Vodafone
's national and international advert campaigns. He has been a reader for the Royal National Institute for the Blind Talking Books since 2004. In 2007 he joined the Liars League as an actor and a year later was asked to become a Liar. He regularly hosts or reads at the evenings. In 2011, he curated a CD of Shakespeare extracts in Original Pronunciation for the British Library.
, the drama schools Drama Studio London
, East 15, and the Drama Centre
, and in schools around the country. In 2010, Crystal was invited by the British Council
to Kolkata
and Pune
, India
, and ran a series of workshops on acting Shakespeare there. He has been a consultant for Akala's Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company since 2010, and has co-hosted the Poetry Live
GCSE poetry conferences since 2004.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
more accessible. He has been referred to as "the Jamie Oliver of Shakespeare" by BBC Radio 5
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
for trying to make the plays accessible to all.
Background and career
Crystal was born in AscotAscot, Berkshire
Ascot is a village within the civil parish of Sunninghill and Ascot, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It is most notable as the location of Ascot Racecourse, home of the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting...
, England, and grew up in Wokingham
Wokingham
Wokingham is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire in South East England about west of central London. It is about east-southeast of Reading and west of Bracknell. It spans an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 30,403...
, and Holyhead
Holyhead
Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
, North Wales. He studied English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University
Lancaster University
Lancaster University, officially The University of Lancaster, is a leading research-intensive British university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established by Royal Charter in 1964 and initially based in St Leonard's Gate until moving to a purpose-built 300 acre campus at...
between 1995 and 1998, before training as an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
between 1998 and 1999. After leaving drama school he studied methods from the theatre companies Complicite
Complicite
The British theatre company Complicite was founded in 1983 by Simon McBurney, Annabel Arden, and Marcello Magni. Its original name was Théâtre de Complicité. "The Company's inimitable style of visual and devised theatre [has] an emphasis on strong, corporeal, poetic and surrealist image supporting...
and Frantic Assembly, particularly under Annabel Arden and Monika Pagneux.
In 1999 he began to write Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion (Penguin 2002), with his father, David Crystal
David Crystal
David Crystal OBE FLSW FBA is a linguist, academic and author.-Background and career:Crystal was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. He grew up in Holyhead, North Wales, and Liverpool, England where he attended St Mary's College from 1951....
, and has been acting and writing for the last ten years, most notably in 2003 playing a guest lead in the BBC1 drama series Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
, for which he became fluent in British Sign Language
British Sign Language
British Sign Language is the sign language used in the United Kingdom , and is the first or preferred language of some deaf people in the UK; there are 125,000 deaf adults in the UK who use BSL plus an estimated 20,000 children. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands,...
, and for the 2006 summer season at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
.
He regularly gives workshops and talks on Shakespeare literature festivals around the world, including the Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, the Edinburgh International Book Festival
Edinburgh International Book Festival
The Edinburgh International Book Festival, is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in Charlotte Square, in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital...
, the Oxford Literary Festival, Dartington's Ways With Words Festival, and the Cheltenham Literature Festival
Cheltenham Literature Festival
The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, a large-scale international festival of literature in the Spa town of Cheltenham, and part of Cheltenham Festivals: also responsible for the Jazz, Music and Science Festivals that run every year....
, and particularly since the publication of Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard. The Guardian newspaper said the book contained "gems of close reading and theatrically focused attention throughout".
In 2011 he was invited to play Hamlet by Eric Rasmussen and Rob Gander for the Nevada Repertory Company, opening November 2011. The production will be entirely spoken in Original Pronunciation, the accent Shakespeare and his company would have spoken in, the first production of its kind for four centuries.
He is the son of renowned linguist David Crystal
David Crystal
David Crystal OBE FLSW FBA is a linguist, academic and author.-Background and career:Crystal was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. He grew up in Holyhead, North Wales, and Liverpool, England where he attended St Mary's College from 1951....
.
Film
In 2001, Crystal played the character Julian Wald in the movie "UprisingUprising (film)
Uprising is a 2001 war/drama television movie about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The film was directed by Jon Avnet and written by Avnet and Paul Brickman...
", directed by Jon Avnet
Jon Avnet
Jonathan Michael "Jon" Avnet is an American director, writer and producer.-Early life:Avnet was born in Brooklyn, the son of Joan Bertha and Lester Francis Avnet, a corporate executive and electronics distributor. He attended Great Neck North High School in Great Neck, New York...
and starring alongside stars such as Hank Azaria
Hank Azaria
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...
, Jon Voight
Jon Voight
Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....
and Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
..
Theatre Credits
Spring AwakeningSpring Awakening
Spring Awakening is a rock musical adaptation of the controversial 1892 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind. It features music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Set in late-19th century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of...
: Ernst Robel (2000) - directed by Andrew Harries (Bath Theatre Royal)
Twelfth Night: Curio (2005) - directed by Patrick Mason
Patrick Mason
Patrick Mason is an award-winning theatre director.Mason was educated at Downside School and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He was appointed fellow in drama at the University of Manchester in 1974 and then lecturer in performance studies...
(National Tour/Thelma Holt
Thelma Holt
Thelma Holt, is a British theatre producer and former actress.After a successful career as an actress, in partnership with Charles Marowitz, Thelma founded the Open Space Theatre in Tottenham Court Road, London, which became the forerunner of the London fringe. In 1977, joined The Round House in...
)
Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, and possibly George Peele, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy, and is often seen as his attempt to emulate the violent and bloody revenge plays of his contemporaries, which were...
: Alarbus (2006) - directed by Lucy Bailey
Lucy Bailey (director)
Lucy Bailey is a British theatre director, notable as the founder of the Gogmagogs chamber-music group and the Print Room theatre in West London...
(Shakespeare's Globe)
The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
: Luce (2006) - directed by Christopher Luscombe (Shakespeare's Globe)
Rough For Theatre 2: B / Ohio Impromptu: Reader (2007) - directed by Jonathon Heron (Fail Better)
Caligula
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
: Scipio (2007) - directed by Giles Gartrell-Mills (Talon Arts)
One Minute
One Minute
"One Minute" is a song composed by pop rock singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson, with the help from Chantal Kreviazuk, Kara Dioguardi, and Michael Raine Maida. It is the second single from her third studio album, My December, released in Australia on September 22, 2007...
: DC Robert Evans (2008) - directed by Robert Wolstenholme (shiningman)
The Night Before Christmas: Simon Templer (2009) - directed by Robert Wolstenholme (Signal Theatre Company)
King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
: Edgar (2010) - directed by Daniel Winder (Iris Theatre Company)
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
: Demetrius (2011) - directed by Daniel Winder (Iris Theatre Company)
Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
: Hamlet (2011) - directed by Rob Gander (Nevada Repertory Company)
Producer
In 2008 Crystal set up Shining Man, a theatre company with the director Robert Wolstenholme. Their remit is to "produce plays that directly address contemporary events, trends and ideologies. They can be either old or new, but must be the best theatrical writing, with bold vision and ambition." Their first production, in which Crystal also acted, was the first professional revival of Simon Stephen's One MinuteOne Minute
"One Minute" is a song composed by pop rock singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson, with the help from Chantal Kreviazuk, Kara Dioguardi, and Michael Raine Maida. It is the second single from her third studio album, My December, released in Australia on September 22, 2007...
(2008). Their second production was a new play by Robin French
Robin French
Robin French is a playwright, film and television writer and songwriter living in London.-Background:French was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Selwyn College, Cambridge University where he graduated with first-class honours in 2001.While...
, Gilbert is Dead, a Victorian-Darwinian melo-drama set in a taxidermy museum in 1861. They chose the grade II* listed building Hoxton Hall
Hoxton Hall
Hoxton Hall is a community centre and performance space in Hoxton, at 130 Hoxton Street, in the London Borough of Hackney.A grade II* listed building, the theatre was first built as a Music hall in 1863, as MacDonald's Music hall. It is an unrestored example of the saloon-style...
, built in 1865 and one of London's last standing Victorian Music Halls, as the theatre in which to perform the play.
In 2010, Crystal set up Passion in Practice with theatre director Daniel Winder, whose remit is to explore fresh approaches to acting Shakespeare.
Television
Holby CityHolby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
: Ade Crowe (Guest Lead) (2003) - directed by Richard Platt
Richard Platt
British author Richard Platt was born in Northumberland in 1953. He started writing when aged 27 with how-to articles and books about photography. By 1992 he had begun writing non-fiction books for children, initially collaborating with Stephen Biesty in a successful series that capitalized on the...
The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
: Mark Johnson (2001) - directed by Michael Owen Morris.
Published Books
Crystal's first two books were co-written with his father, David CrystalDavid Crystal
David Crystal OBE FLSW FBA is a linguist, academic and author.-Background and career:Crystal was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. He grew up in Holyhead, North Wales, and Liverpool, England where he attended St Mary's College from 1951....
- Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion (Penguin 2002), and The Shakespeare Miscellany (Penguin, 2005). The first took three years to write, and the second, three months. Crystal wrote his first solo book, Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard (Icon, 2008), in part while acting at Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames, but destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction is an academic best guess, based...
in 2006. His first non-Shakespeare book, Sorry, I'm British! (Oneworld, 2010), was co-written with colleague Adam Russ, who had acted with Crystal in Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening is a rock musical adaptation of the controversial 1892 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind. It features music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Set in late-19th century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of...
in 2000.
Audiobooks, Narration & Voice-Over Work
In 2003 Crystal narrated the first season of the Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
TV series The Salon
The Salon
The Salon was a British reality TV show where various members of the public were invited daily to have treatments in a studio built beauty salon situated in Balham, south-west London, and in the second series, a purpose-built studio inside the Trocadero, Piccadilly Circus.-Overview:Viewers were...
. and voiced Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
's national and international advert campaigns. He has been a reader for the Royal National Institute for the Blind Talking Books since 2004. In 2007 he joined the Liars League as an actor and a year later was asked to become a Liar. He regularly hosts or reads at the evenings. In 2011, he curated a CD of Shakespeare extracts in Original Pronunciation for the British Library.
Other Work
Crystal has led workshops at the Royal National TheatreRoyal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, the drama schools Drama Studio London
Drama Studio London
Drama Studio London is a drama school based in Ealing, London, England, United Kingdom. It is accredited by the National Council for Drama Training, London and is a Member of the Conference of Drama Schools...
, East 15, and the Drama Centre
Drama Centre
Drama Centre London is a British drama school in King's Cross, London, where it recently relocated after a major reshaping of the university. The school is part of the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design of the University of the Arts London and is a member of the Conference of Drama...
, and in schools around the country. In 2010, Crystal was invited by the British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
to Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
and Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and ran a series of workshops on acting Shakespeare there. He has been a consultant for Akala's Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company since 2010, and has co-hosted the Poetry Live
Poetry Live
Poetry Live, also known as Poetry Live! for GCSE, is a series of annual events in venues across the UK where poets perform their poetry to English school children....
GCSE poetry conferences since 2004.