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Heather Benton is the Head of the B.F.A. Acting Program and Associate Professor in Acting & Movement in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Montclair State University. She specializes physical approaches to acting and teaches Acting and Movement in the BFA Acting curriculum. Benton is a certified Lucid Body Instructor (March, 2025) with specializations in Lucid Body, Practical Aesthetics, Stanislavski, Viewpoints and Suzuki techniques.

She directs and devises in the Department of Theatre and Dance season of plays, creates original devised pieces for the BFA Acting Senior Capstone and has created multiple international bi-lingual devised pieces with students and faculty from theatre schools in Santiago, Chile and Madrid, Spain. Department season directing credits at MSU include: Upcoming: BOUND/ UNBOUND: A QUEER QUEST FOR BIG LOVE (devised production, 2025); MARIE ANTOINETTE by David Adjmi (2024); THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Simon Stephens(2022); THE ILLUSION by Tony Kushner (Zoom Production, 2020); WEDDING BAND: A Love/ Hate Story in Black and White by Alice Childress (2018); IPHIGENIA AT AULIS by Euripides (2016); and WINTERTIME by Charles L. Mee (2014).

Senior Capstone Projects & Devised Theatre at MSU: REVELATIONS LOOPED, immersive devised piece with original text and scenes from contemporary plays (2024); WHAT WE HOlD ON TO, devised verbatim theatre (2023) PROJECT TWILIGHT ZONE, adapted episodes from the original "Twilight Zone" TV series and original material (2022); RIDERS ON THE STORM, devised with original text & SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS by Bess Wohl (2020); YERMA by Simon Stone, adapted from Frederick Lorca’s play (2019); TEN X SHANLEY, devised with scenes from plays by John Patrick Shanley (2018); SENTIENCE, SEX, LOVE AND INFORMATION, devised with original text and LOVE & INFORMATION by Caryl Churchill (2017); POLAROID STORIES by Naomi Iizuka (2016).

International Collaborations: IDENTITY, bi-lingual devised, co-created with MSU Professor Debbie Saivetz in collaboration with TAI Madrid (Madrid, Spain); EL ENCUENTRO, bi-lingual devised, co-created with MSU Professor Debbie Saivetz and Universidad Mayor (Santiago, Chile) professors, Leonor Lopehandia & Gabriel Diaz of the Universidad Mayor (2017-2018).

Acting & Movement Coaching/ Choreography credits at MSU: LYDIA by Octavio Solis, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Kate Hamill, TOP GIRLS by Caryl Churchill, MAD FOREST by Caryl Churchill, TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare, PUNK ROCK by Simon Stephens, THE DRUNKEN CITY by Adam Bock, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE adapted by Simon Reade from the novel by Jane Austen, THE PERSIANS by Aeschylus, THE WINTER'S TALE by William Shakespeare, CLYBOURNE PARK by Bruce Norris, MIDDLETOWN by Will Eno, THE BIG MEAl by Frank LeBlanc, EQUUS by Peter Schaffer, CLOUD NINE by Caryl Churchill, ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare, PENANCE: GHOST OF DON JUAN by Molly Rice, GRAPES OF WRATH adapted from John Steinbeck’s novel by Frank Galati, 1001 by Jason Grote, ARCADIA by Tom Stoppard.

Specialization

Professor Benton is a hybrid physical theatre artist specializing in acting/ movement/ devising/ directing. Techniques include Stanislavski, Practical Aesthetics, Lucid Body, Viewpoints and Suzuki. She is a certified teacher of the Lucid Body: A Physical Approach to Acting technique.

Resume/CV

Office Hours

Fall

Tuesday

11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Thursday

11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Links

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• B.F.A.Acting Webpage
• New Works Initiative Webpage
• Department of Theatre and Dance Webpage
• Devised Theatre Project of the Americas Video
• Iphigenia Remixed Article: Creative Research