I am an award-winning writer. Here you will find details of my plays, adaptations and screenwriting.
For more information on any projects, email: oliverbennett_24@hotmail.com
Europe After The Rain
My debut play ‘Europe After The Rain’ was shortlisted for the WiT Award, Papatango Award and won the Mercury Playwriting Award.
On the eve of an impending election, two British men and two Ukrainian refugees hide out in a garden, trying to hide from their past.
It was performed at the Mercury Theatre to critical acclaim. It has been translated into Russian and performed at the Goethe Institute in Minsk. It was described as a “feverish, fiercely relevant satire…a highly promising debut” and “a darkly surreal, highly theatrical exploration of the world we live in now” ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (The Stage). ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (British Theatre) ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (spyinthestalls)
A Hero of our Time
A modern adaptation of Mikhail Lermontov’s classic Russian novel ‘A Hero of our Time’. Directed by Vladimir Shcherban, the production has been performed in London, Russia, Germany, Prague, to huge critical acclaim. It was hailed as “a vision of what theatre should be” ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (The Spectator), “a blistering feat of storytelling” ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (The Stage), “a very clever adaptation” (Times Literary Supplement) and “a sugar rush of intrigue and excitement” ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (The Scotsman).
Pass the Hat
A one-man show, directed by Vladimir Shcherban. This personal show tells the story of me investigating a family rumour that my great-grandfather was the famous street performer Henry Hollis. It premiered at Stone Nest in 2022 and toured to Prague and Nepal. It was described as “the finest of storytelling, quietly profound” ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (Onceaweektheatre) and “nothing short of sensational” ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (CloseUp Culture).
What We May Also Do
Written in response to Anna Sebastian’s paintings, ‘What We May Also Do’ was originally performed in the gallery Verdurin in Hoxton in 2024.
An older woman, Gloria, attempts to gain admittance to ‘The City’ – a place of supposed sexual liberation and social climbing, but which breeds a life destroying ennui. An exploration into our contemporary attitudes to sex and repression.
The Freedom of Ghosts
A brand new play. August 2026. The UK’s first assisted dying clinic has been set up in a small town outside London. An alcoholic doctor, Richard, has just been suspended. A young woman struggles to look after her ailing father. An older woman wrestles with a monumental decision. Their lives are about to collide in a way that will change them all forever in this exploration of death and survival.
Oliver Bennett 