Ben Norris is a writer, actor, theatre-maker and film-maker.  His debut solo show, 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Family', won the 2015 IdeasTap Underbelly Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before touring the UK and Australia, and his first short film, commissioned by Channel 4, was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award. Ben’s second short, commissioned by the BBC and BFI, has just completed its festival run and is now a Short of the Week, and his third (and first as writer-director) is currently in pre-production funded by BFI and CenterFrame. Previous commissions include work for BBC Radio 4 and the Southbank Centre, among others, and he is a former writer-in-residence at Theatr Clwyd and Nottinghamshire Libraries. His second pamphlet of poems, Some Ending, was published by Verve Poetry Press in May 2019 and he is a two-time UK national poetry slam champion, performing everywhere from Glastonbury Festival to the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall.

Ben’s debut play, ‘Autopilot’, premiered at the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it was named by The Stage as one of the Best Shows of the Year. It was also nominated for the Popcorn Prize for New Writing in 2020, when it was originally programmed.

Ben wrote the monologues for the hit jukebox musical ‘The Choir of Man’, and originated the part of The Poet when the show debuted in 2017. He reprised his role for the show’s inaugural run on London’s West End from 2021-22, where it was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play. It continues to play at the Arts Theatre in London, the Apollo Theater Chicago, and tour around the world.

Ben is from Nottingham, and is a former Creative Associate at Nottingham Playhouse. He is the voice of Ben Archer in ‘The Archers’ on BBC Radio 4, and Rogier in the video game ‘Elden Ring’.