2025.
In the silence of a Quaker meeting house: 

Benjamin Lay – shepherd, sailor, revolutionary, and the British Empire's first revolutionary abolitionist – returns from the grave almost 300 years after his death, as feisty and unpredictable as ever.

The 4ft “David” confronts the “Goliath” of slavery as he demands once again to be readmitted into the Quaker community that disowned him for ideas considered dangerous and disruptive.

How far will he go to share his prophetic vision knowing the cost of protest?

Sweeping across the centuries and continents, The Return of Benjamin Lay is a hallucinatory exploration of the list of a radical who became one of the earliest revolutionary abolitionists.

The award-winning London production, "an important groundbreaking play" (Closeup Culture), by decorated playwright Naomi Wallace and historian Marcus Rediker, features "a riveting performance by Mark Povinelli" (Broadway World), direction by Royal Shakespeare Company Honorary Associate Ron Daniels, and set design by the acclaimed Riccardo Hernandez. The play crosses the Atlantic in a bold exploration of an utterly impossible man.

Produced by Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company and Quintessence Theatre Group

Production originated at Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company, New York, New York

The Return of Benjamin Lay was first performed at the Finborough Theatre, London (Neil McPherson, Artistic Director), produced by Arsalan Sattari Productions.

CAST

Benjamin Lay
Mark Povinelli

CREATIVE

Director
Ron Daniels

Set Designer
Patrick Blanchard, Original Concept by Riccardo Hernandez

Costume & Props Designer
Isobel Nicolson

Lighting Designer
TBA

Sound Designer
John Leonard

Movement Consultant
Bill Irwin

Stage Manager
TBA

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Mark Povinelli | Benjamin Lay

Mark is most known for his critically acclaimed performance as Torvald Helmer in the OBIE award winning production of Mabou Mines Dollhouse (St. Ann’s Warehouse and International Tour) as well as the premiere of Martha Clarke's Belle Epoque (Lincoln Center) in the lead role of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. Other theatre includes performances at the Shakespeare Theater, Children's Theater Company, Radio City Music Hall, Oklahoma Lyric Theater, Will Geer Theatricum and UCLA Live. Film includes Nightmare Alley, Water For Elephants, Mirror Mirror, The Hot Flashes and My Dinner With Herve. Television includes Modern Family, Criminal Minds, Happyish, Boardwalk Empire, Charmed and Mad Dogs. Mark became the first little person cast as a series regular on a network sitcom in Are You There, Chelsea? As a noted social activist, in June 2017, Povinelli was elected President of the Little People of America which promotes awareness, advocacy and medical assistance for individuals with forms of dwarfism.

Naomi Wallace | Playwright

Wallace’s plays have been produced in the UK, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East and include One Flea Spare, The Breach, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, In the Heart of America, Slaughter City, Things of Dry Hours, The Fever Chart: Three Vision of the Middle East, and I am Silence, The Liquid Plain, Night is a Room and two adaptations co-written with Ismail Khalidi, Returing to Haifa by Ghassan Kanafani and The Corpse Washer by Sinan Antoon. Awards include the MacArthur Award, Obie Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Fellowship of Southern Writers Drama Award, Horton Foote Award, Arts and Letters Award in Literature, and the inaugural Windham Campbell prize for drama. Wallace is currently writing the book for the new John Mellencamp musical Small Town. The second part of her Kentucky trilogy will be produced in France in 2024, and her play, Night is a Room has been adapted for film and will star Ann Dowd. https://www.naomiwallace.com/bio

Marcus Rediker | Playwright and Historian

Writer and historian Marcus Rediker is Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History at the University of Pittsburgh. His "histories from below," including The Slave Ship: A Human History, have won numerous awards, including the George Washington Book Prize, and have been translated into eighteen languages worldwide. He is the author of The Fearless Benjamin Lay: The Quaker Dwarf Who Became the First Revolutionary Abolitionist, co-author (with David Lester and Paul Buhle) of Prophet against Slavery: Benjamin Lay, A Graphic Novel, and producer of a prize-winning documentary film, Ghosts of Amistad, directed by Tony Buba. He worked with Naomi Wallace on her play The Liquid Plain. He is currently writing a book about escaping slavery by sea in antebellum America. https://www.marcusrediker.com/

Ron Daniels | Director

Ron Daniels was named Honorary Associate Director after fifteen years directing many productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company including Hamlet (with Mark Rylance and another with Roger Rees), The Tempest (with Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance) as well as new plays by Stephen Poliakoff, David Rudkin, Pam Gems and David Edgar, including Naomi Wallace’s Slaughter City and Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange. Ron is a former Associate Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theatre where he directed productions including Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, Henry V, The Tempest, The Cherry Orchard, Hamlet, and The Seagull with Mark Rylance. Other theatres include Othello (Shakespeare Theatre, Washington DC), Richard II, Richard III and Macbeth (Theatre for a New Audience), Naomi Wallace's One Flea Spare (Public Theater, New York City), Much Ado about Nothing and The Taming of the Shrew (Old Globe, San Diego). Opera includes Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, Carmen, and Don Giovanni, the world premiere productions of Daniel Catan’s Il Postino with Placido Domingo, Ricky Ian Gordon’s Morning Star and Daniel Schnyder’s Charlie Parker’s Yardbird. Film includes Naomi Wallace and Bruce McLeod’s Lawn Dogs (Executive Producer) and The War Boys. He is a former head of the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University, where he taught acting and directing.

Riccardo Hernandez | Set Designer

Riccardo’s numerous productions include Jagged Little Pill (Tony Nomination for Best Scenic Design of a Musical), Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (Tony Nomination for Best Revival of a Play) starring Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon, Indecent (2017 Tony Award Best Play Nomination - Broadway and Menier Chocolate Factory, London), The Gin Game with James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson, Porgy and Bess (2012 Tony Award Best Musical Revival), The People in the Picture (Studio 54), Caroline, or Change (2007 Olivier Award for Best New Musical and London Evening Standard Award for Best Musical 2006), TopDog/UnderDog (2002 Pulitzer Award Best Play - Broadway and Royal Court Theatre, London) and Parade (Tony Award and Drama Desk Nominations). Riccardo has designed over 250 productions at most leading Regional Theatres and Operas across the US and internationally, over twenty productions at the American Rep Theatre, and over thirty productions at New York Shakespeare Festival and Public Theater. Awards and Nominations include Obie Award Sustained Excellence of Scenic Design, Henry Hewes Design Award Outstanding Scenic Design, Princess Grace Statue Award, Princess Grace Grant, Drama Desk Awards, Connecticut Critics Circle, Helen Hayes Award, Audelco, American Theater Wing and the Boston Elliot Norton Award. He is the Associate Professor of Theater Design at Yale School of Drama.

Isobel Nicolson | Costume and Props Designer

Isobel is a Creative Associate at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury, UK. She was a Resident Assistant Designer with the Royal Shakespeare Company 2019-2020. Theatre includes Rapunzel, Camp Albion, A Christmas Carol, Moonfleet, Digging for Victory, The Miller’s Child (Watermill Theatre, Newbury), Lone Flyer (Hull Truck Theatre, Jermyn Street Theatre and the Watermill Theatre, Newbury), Jessie’s Tattoo Club (Bristol Old Vic Ferment), Queen Mab (Iris Theatre), Jabberwocky (The Other Palace and Theatre Royal Margate), Tis Pity She's A Whore (Sherman Studio, Cardiff), Dream (The Other Place and The New Vic Theatre, Staffordshire), Errol’s Garden (UK tour), Old Friends (Cambridge Junction and the Cockpit Theatre), D-Day75 (101 Outdoor Arts), The Witches (Watford Palace Theatre), Die Fledermaus (DEPOT and Spit & Sawdust Skatepark) and Bright Young Things and Stay Brave Brian Gravy (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds). Associate Designs include My Neighbour Totoro (Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Theatre), Island Nation (Arcola Theatre), The Velveteen Rabbit and The Old Curiosity Shop (UK tour).

John Leonard | Sound Designer

John started work as a sound designer before the term was even coined in the UK. He was Head of Sound at the Royal Shakespeare Company and an Associate Artist, and has worked for most of the major theatre companies in the UK, including the National Theatre, the English National Opera, Hampstead Theatre, Almeida Theatre, Donmar Warehouse and extensively in London's West End, Broadway and on national and international tours. Recent theatre includes 4000 Miles (Chichester Minerva Theatre), As You Like It (Soho Place Theatre), The Sex Party (Menier Chocolate Factory), The Snail House, Night Mother, Wolf Cub, Cell Mates, The Meeting, Stevie (Hampstead Theatre), The Dresser (Theatre Royal Bath and UK tour), The Stepmother, 8 Hotels (Minerva Theatre, Chichester), Prism (Hampstead Theatre and UK tour), Blithe Spirit (Theatre Royal Bath, UK Tour and West End),Consent, Cocktail Sticks (National Theatre and West End), My Name Is Lucy Barton (Bridge Theatre and Friedman Theatre, New York City), Uncle Vanya (Theatre Royal Bath), Charlotte & Theodore, In Praise Of Love (Ustinov Theatre, Bath), Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Bristol Old Vic, West End, New York and Los Angeles), Hand To God (Vaudeville Theatre), McQueen (St. James Theatre and West End), Firebird, Mr. Foote’s Other Leg (Hampstead Theatre and West End), Ghosts (Almeida Theatre, West End and Harvey Theatre, Brooklyn). Exhibitions include those for The Tussauds Group in London, Warwick Castle, Amsterdam and New York. He is the author of a renowned textbook on theatre sound, winner of Drama Desk and Sound Designer of The Year Awards and is a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, an Honorary Fellow of The Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and a Companion of the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts.

Bill Irwin | Movement Consultant

Bill is an American actor, clown and comedian. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performer and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He has made a number of appearances on film and television, and won a Tony Award for his role in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? on Broadway. Irwin was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer's Fellowship in 1981 and 1983. In 1984, he was named a Guggenheim Fellow and was the first performance artist to be awarded a five-year MacArthur Fellowship. For Largely New York (five Tony Award nominations), he won a New York Drama Critics Circle Special Citation in 1988 and an Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama Desk Award in 1989.