Darnelle Pierre Benjamin

Actor

Darnell Pierre Benjamin is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and community builder who attended University of Houston in 2009 and earned his MFA in the university’s Professional Actor Training Program. Darnell’s work lives at the intersection of art and wellness, which is apparent in his companion directorial pieces, 13th & Republic and REST, where he reached over 25,000 individuals in a conversation about trauma and healing, thanks to Artswave’s “Truth and Reconciliation” grant. Darnell is a professor at Northern Kentucky University, teaching theatre and movement. He is in the process of completing his certification as an educator and performer in the Michael Chekhov Technique at Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium. He is also an active member of Actors Equity Association, Society of American Fight Directors, and Shakespeare Theatre Association. Recent directing and choreography credits include King James at Know Theatre of Cincinnati, Fat Ham at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Sweat at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, The Prom at Xavier University, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill at The Carnegie Performing Arts Center, and the world premiere of T-Room…The Musical at Endstation Theatre Company. In addition, Darnell is the host of PBS’s Long Story Short. Darnell is on the boards of Treehouse Cincinnati, Stop the Stigma Productions, Pones, and Caracole. He has been awarded Encore Michigan’s Wilde “Best of The Bard” and Cincinnati Black Pride’s Vizazi. Like James Baldwin once said, Darnell agrees that “Great art can only be created out of love” and Darnell focuses on love being at the core of his work.