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Benedict Andrews (born 1972) is an Australian theatre and film director, based in Reykjavík. Profile in Real Time magazine Born in Adelaide in 1972, he was educated at Flinders University Drama Centre. His first feature film Una (an adaptation of Blackbird by David Harrower) was released in 2016.
His marathon Shakespeare cycle, The War of the Roses (Sydney Theatre Company, 2009) which was a part of the 2009 Sydney Festival and Perth festivals, received six Helpmann Awards Helpmann Awards 2012 in 2012 including Best Play and Best Direction of a Play, as well as five Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Direction and Best Mainstage Production. The two-night eight-hour production of The War of the Roses incorporates all eight War of the Roses Shakespearean plays in name but largely cut out the Henrys, making it in large part a combination of both Richard II and Richard III. The first night consisted of Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V. The second consisted of Henry VI and Richard III. The production was also memorable for having his two female leads, Cate Blanchett and Pamela Rabe, play Richard II and Richard III, respectively, while still dressing in modern gender-neutral clothing.
Andrews has been a regular guest at London's Young Vic, Sydney Theatre Company (STC) and Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz in Berlin, and the National Theatre of Iceland in Reykjavik. Key productions include his production of Chekhov's Three Sisters which won the Critics Theatre Award in 2012 for Best Director, Critics Theatre Awards 2012 Groß und Klein Ferguson, Euan; The Guardian, April 2012 (STC, 2011) for which Andrews received the 2011 Helpmann Best Director award for the third time and which toured to Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), Barbican Centre (London), the Wiener Festwochen (Vienna) and the Ruhrfestspiele (Recklinghausen).
His production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (with Gillian Anderson and Ben Foster) at London's Young Vic opened at St. Ann's Warehouse, New York City, in April 2016. His STC production of Jean Genet's The Maids (with Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth Debicki and Isabelle Huppert) was played as part of the 2014 Lincoln Center Festival in New York City. "New York Theater Review: '‘The Maids'’ Starring Cate Blanchett, Isabelle Huppert" by Marilyn Stasio, Variety, 9 August 2014
Andrews' first original play Every Breath was produced at Belvoir St Theatre in 2012 The premiere of his 2016 play Gloria was shown by the Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney, directed by Lee Lewis with Marta Dusseldorp in the title role who also played Queen Margaret in Andrews' The War of the Roses in 2009.
Andrews' first volume of poetry, Lens Flare, was published in 2014 by Pitt Poetry. (2026). 9781922080349, Pitt Street Poetry. ISBN 9781922080349
In March 2018, it was announced that Andrews would direct Seberg, a political thriller that tells the true story of the attempts made by the FBI to discredit actress Jean Seberg through its COINTELPRO program in response to her support of the Black Panther Party. Actress Kristen Stewart was cast to play Seberg in the film. It had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 30, 2019.
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