Alice Benston

Theater Studies

Professor

Theater Emory

Resident Dramaturg

Rich Building, Room 222

404-727-0538

Alice N. Benston holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. She has taught at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the Eastman School of Music and the College of Arts and Sciences at Rochester University prior to coming to Emory University. Her published work includes essays on Shakespeare, Ibsen, Strindberg, The Theatre of the Absurd, Pinter and Beckett. Her dramaturgical work for Theater Emory has included productions of works by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Shaw and a variety contemporary plays. For the Shaw year, she designed and directed a four-part sampler of scenes from the entire cannon, followed by serving as dramaturg for Back to Methuselah and Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. She has also served as dramaturg for The Georgia Shakespeare Festival's productions of Measure for Measure, Richard II, and The Two Gentleman of Verona.

For the 2004/05 season, she created a script from the scenes of Shakespeare's fools, jesters, and clowns, tracing their commonalities and differences from A Comedy of Errors to The Tempest.

In the spring of 2005, she was awarded the Cuttino Prize for student mentoring from the College. She is also the recipient of a student council Crystal Apple award in teaching and the Fine teaching award chosen by the majors and minors of the Department of Theater Studies.