John B. Benitz

John received his BFA from Sarah Lawrence College and his MFA in Acting from Brandeis University.  He has directed theatre in Boston, Off-Broadway and at some of L.A.’s premier theaters.  He directed the West Coast premieres of Borderlands, an original play about Bosnia which was a Best Pick in the LA Weekly, and the Off-Broadway play Fortune’s Fools at the McCadden Theater in Hollywood, also an LA Weekly Best Pick and for which he won a Dramalogue Award.  John has performed Off-Broadway at Ubu Rep, the Odyssey and Fountain Theaters in L.A. and at the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, to name a few. 

John wrote and directed the award winning film, Children of the Struggle, which was featured on PBS and is seen in high schools and colleges nationwide.  It was recognized by the NAACP Film Commission for its true and poignant portrayal of the fight for black voting rights.

Most recently he co-founded Theatre 88 with Professor Rich Brown of Western Washington University. Together they produced and John directed What I Heard About Iraq on college campuses and in theaters and performing arts centers from New York to Montreal and Off-Broadway at the famous LaMama Annex Theatre.