Ben Layne

Affiliations

Freshwater Theatre Company

Awards

Voted one of the ten favorite local actors in the Twin Cities as part of Vita.mn's 2011 "List of Lists"! http://www.vita.mn/story.php?id=125652413

Praise for the cast of Table 12: A Play at a Wedding: "The entire cast sparks an infectious energy with collectively charged performances." - Brad Richason, Twin Cities Examiner http://www.examiner.com/performance-art-in-minneapolis/dispatches-from-t...

Praise for "Dirty Girls Come Clean: The Return":
Equal parts hilarious, irreverent and heartbreaking, Freshwater Theatre Company's remount of its production Dirty Girls Come Clean at Nimbus Theatre speaks volumes about women's experience with what society defines as "dirty." - Lauren Peck, Metro Magazine
http://metromag.com/blog/arts/theater/getting-dirty

"Dirty Girls Come Clean is one of the better examples of a showcase done right that I’ve seen in a while. It’s comprises a widely varied set of material that still holds together remarkably well as a whole. Writing, acting, directing—it’s all strong, solid work pretty much from start to finish, full of laughter and also food for thought (some of the food literal). Dirty Girls Come Clean was my first experience attending a Freshwater Theatre show, but with work this strong on display, I have a feeling it’s just the first visit of many to come for me." - Matthew Everett, TC Daily Planet
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/arts/theater/dirty-girls-come-clean-freshwa...

Contact information

General availability

  • Weeknights
  • Weekends

Experience

AS ACTOR:

WALKING SHADOW THEATRE COMPANY:
Mr. Montford - An Ideal Husband (Amy Rummenie)
Agent Dan - Saboteur (video spot) (John Heimbuch)

JON FERGUSON THEATER:
Scribe/Soldier/Ensemble - The King is Dead (Jon Ferguson)

FRESHWATER THEATRE COMPANY:
Reverend Tollhouse - The Book of Liz (Scot Moore)
Doctor - Cut or Uncut (Amber Bjork)
Christophe - Fringe Remounts XXL/Table 12: A Play At A Wedding (Crystal G. Schneider)

THEATRE PRO RATA:
Vizzini - Five-Fifths of the Princess Bride (Carin Bratlie)
Cloanthus - Dido, Queen of Carthage (Carin Bratlie)
Viceroy of Portugal - The Spanish Tragedy (Carin Bratlie)

TEDIOUS BRIEF PRODUCTIONS:
Marsellus/Lancelot - Bard Fiction (Carin Bratlie)

SWANDIVE THEATRE:
Actor - Post-Its: Notes on a Marriage (Damon Runnals)
Miller/Gachet - Inventing Van Gogh (Damon Runnals)
Walter - Miniature Horses Don't Go to Heaven (Jason Vogen)

MOUNDS DINNER THEATRE:
Fred - The Ice Fish'n Op'ner (Greg Eiden)

STARTING GATE PRODUCTIONS:
Mike - A View From the Bridge (Jodi Kellogg)

THE FLOWER SHOP PROJECT:
Dan - In the Weeds (Gretchen Weinrich)
Pet Coffin Maker/Merle - The Fish, The Fruit, & the Pet Coffin Maker (Gretchen Weinrich)
Norvall - Almost Got it Made (Gretchen Weinrich)
Tim (The Up-Talker) - Preferred by Discreet Women Everywhere (Gretchen Weinrich)
Chief/Lab Flunky - Attack of the Atomic Trash Monster's Bride (Gretchen Weinrich)
Andrew - Auld Acquaintance (Gretchen Weinrich)

COMMEDIA BEAUREGARD:
Adriaan - Masterworks: The Rembrandt Plays (Crystal Schneider)
Dr. Gaul - Rossum's Universal Robots (Christopher Kidder)

THE DIRECTORS, LLP:
Actor - The Haunted Theatre (Damon Runnals/Matt Hune)

NIGHTPATH THEATRE:
Escalus/Mistress Overdone - Measure for Measure (Maggie Scanlan)
Envoy's Bodyguard - The Balcony (Maggie Scanlan)

THEATRE LIMINA:
Howard - Undiscovered Genius (Buddy Haardt)

HERITAGE THEATRE COMPANY:
El Gallo - The Fantasticks (Gretchen Weinrich)

LAKESHORE PLAYERS:
John Hutchins - The Night of January 16th (Brian Sherman)

BAD ATTITUDE PRODUCTIONS:
King of Navarre - Love's Labours Lost (Christopher McGahan)

AS DIRECTOR:
FRESHWATER THEATRE COMPANY:
Director - Untitled Fringe Show (upcoming)

Director - "The Gifted Program" by Ruben Carbajal (upcoming)

Director - "No Goat" and "Flapjacks and Bagels" (both pieces part of Festival of Awkward Moments)

BOX WINE THEATRE:
Director - "Hetero" (Part of 2nd Annual Raucous Caucus Political Play Festival)

Director - "The First Debate (part of Raucous Caucus Political Play Festival)

UNIT COLLECTIVE:
Director - "Janitorial" and "What, Country Friends, is This?" (part of Unit Collective's "Madness")

SWANDIVE THEATRE:
Assistant Director - The Baltimore Waltz (Damon Runnals directing)

BAD ATTITUDE PRODUCTIONS:
Director - Your Typical, Everyday, Lighthearted, Romantic, Comedy

IN THE BASEMENT PRODUCTIONS:
Director - Your Typical, Everyday, Lighthearted, Romantic, Comedy

OSTER REGENT THEATER:
Assistant Director - 42nd Street (Gary Baumgartner directing)

AS WRITER:
THE FLOWER SHOP PROJECT/IN THE BASEMENT PRODUCTIONS:
The Anniversary Present

THEATRE UNBOUND:
The Order of the Four Legs (co-written w/Eli Effinger Weintraub)

BAD ATTITUDE PRODUCTIONS:
KRAS News

AS PRODUCER:
FRESHWATER THEATRE COMPANY:
Untitled Fringe show (upcoming)
Better or Worse (upcoming)
The Gifted Program (upcoming)
Dirty Girls Come Clean: The Return
The Book of Liz
Dirty Girls Come Clean: A Festival
Desperation Panties
A Festival of Awkward Moments
Fringe Remounts XXL!!
Table 12: A Play At A Wedding

BAD ATTITUDE PRODUCTIONS:
Oedipus Wrecks
Sincerity Forever
KRAS News
Love's Labours Lost
Your Typical, Everyday, Lighthearted, Romantic, Comedy
An Enemy of the People

Video

Education

B.A. Theatre, University of Northern Iowa - May, 2003

Training

Acting: Richard Glockner

Voice/Speech/Movement: Jeff Morrison, Sarah Zwick-Tapley

Your Character Does Not Exist workshop: Jon Ferguson

Shakespeare Workshops: Catherine Weidner, Maggie Scanlan

Physical profile

67" tall

Onstage skills

Actor

Singer

Accents

French
U.S. Brooklyn

Acting skills

multiple roles

Production

Director
Assistant Director
Producer
Advisory

Twitter feed

BloomingtonTAC: #mnpl Director Lewis Whitlock and Tony-nominated actress Melissa Hart lead audition workshop at BTAC June 2 and 9: http://t.co/BD9LRLyr

black_canary02: @scrimstreet very organic movement in that drowning bug. #mnfringe

scrimstreet: Drinking whiskey outside to get inspiration for my #mnfringe piece. The bug that just drowned in my glass might become part of the dance.

More tweets