Benjamin appeared in the role of “Malcolm” and “The Porter” in Punchdrunk’s SLEEP NO MORE. In 2011, he joined the cast of the Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park, where he appeared in MEASURE FOR MEASURE and ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. At The Public, he also workshopped CHINGLISH by David Henry Hwang and UNEXPLORED INTERIOR by Jay O.Sanders. Television work includes the hit web series HIGH MAINTENANCE and USA series ROYAL PAINS; TAXI: BROOKLYN on NBC; the ABC show FOREVER; and the webseries HUNTING SEASON.
Performance:
Philosophy in the Boudoir
Two successive full readings of the book by the Marquis de Sade (1795), in French and in English. No other writer has so scandalized proper society as the Marquis de Sade, but despite the deliberate destruction of over three-quarters of his work, Sade remains a major figure in the history of ideas. His influence on some of the greatest minds of the last century–from Baudelaire and Swinburne to Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky and Kafka–is indisputable. Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795) is a major work that presents the clearest summation of his political philosophy. It’s a dialogue set in a boudoir exploring and experimenting through language the links between total freedom of thought and total freedom of manners and bodies. A profound thought experiment proposed by the radical “divine Marquis” made unique by the live performance of the actors.
Time: 1-5 am
Location: Ukrainian Institute of America / Oval Room
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