Series 3, Episode 2: Ben Naylor

On our second episode of Series 3, we're joined by Ben Naylor, the course leader for MA Acting Classical, to discuss his research, his work as a director and the recent productions staged at Central for his students, including Hamlet, which will be available to stream on Central's YouTube channel in May 2021.

Ben Naylor is a Senior Lecturer at Central and the Course Leader for MA Acting Classical. After studying ancient history and theology at Durham and Oxford Universities, Ben trained as a director with Sir Peter Hall at the National Theatre, with John Caird at the Caird Company, and with David Lan and others at the Young Vic. Ben has directed numerous productions, readings and workshops, and regularly works internationally in Israel, the United States, Spain, Germany, Greece and New Zealand. Beyond Central, he has taught at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Young Vic, LAMDA, the Shakespeare Centre, Cambridge University and more. As a practitioner and a researcher, Ben specialises in Shakespeare and the theatre of the English Renaissance, and in acting traditions derived from Stanislavski, European expressionism and the American Method.

We're also joined by Aaron Lynn and Ella Faye Donley, recent MA Acting Classical Class of 2020 graduates and members of the cast of Hamlet, who tell us more about their work on the production and the course.

More information on Ben Naylor's work can be found on the Central website or on his own website.

**You can access a Dyslexia-friendly transcript of this episode**

Discover Central is hosted by Megan Hunter and produced and edited by Megan Hunter and Scott Bellamy.  Main podcast image by Patrick Baldwin.  Megan Hunter's photo is used courtesy of Lydia Keen.  Theme music "Emotive Technology" is by High Street Music and has been used with permission thanks to Premium Beats.  With thanks to colleagues and students at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.  

Ben Naylor

Host Megan Hunter

Aaron Lynn

Ella Faye Donley