Photography and Art Direction: Benji Reid
Co-Creator: John McGrath
Creative Associate, Sound Designer and DJ: Andrew Wong
Set Designer: Ti Green
3D Designer and Maker: Liam Hopkins
Costume Designer: Saskia Lenaerts
Lighting Designer: Tupac Martir
Dramaturg: Keisha Thomson
AV Programmer and Show Controller: Ross Flight

Special thanks to Sumit Sarkar for your generosity of spirit and for designing the titles and Ali Gadema for script support and punctuation.

Iris Cantor Theater | Benji Reid

@benjireid

Benji Reid is a British photographer, visual theater maker and educator. His work focuses on the intersection of race, nationhood and gender with particular attention to the Black British experience, Black masculinity, and mental health. His photograph Holding on to Daddy (2016) was the winner of the Wellcome Photography Prize 2020 in the Mental Health category. A pioneer of Hip Hop Theatre and culture in the UK, Reid defines himself as a “Choreo-Photolist,” a term he coined to refer to the practice of merging theater and choreography in his photography. His work has been shown at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts in New York, Somerset House in London, and Design Fair Paris. After appearing in Alan Lyddiard’s production of The Tempest at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he became a chief dancer and co-choreographer for the band Soul II Soul and went on a world tour as part of their collective. Reid then trained for a year with David Glass, touring nationally with the David Glass Ensemble. He has worked with director Denise Wong and Black Mime Theatre, as well as directing Aeroplane Man by Jonzi D and co-creating the pieces Silence da Bitchin’ and Cracked. The hip hop musical Avalanche at Nottingham Playhouse marked the foundation of Reid’s own company, Breaking Cycles. Reid took part in the Hip-Hop Theater Festival in New York and was the curator of The Illness at Sadler’s Wells in London. In 2006, Reid founded Process 06, an opportunity to explore Hip Hop Theatre as an educational tool. His first photography exhibition was  A Thousand Words at Contact Theatre. Reid refers to his creative work as “part ritual, part photography, and part prayer.”