Meet the FEATS 2025 Adjudicator: Ben Humphrey

Ben graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) and is an Associate of the London Academy of Dramatic Art.  

Ben is currently the Senior Creative Consultant for the National Trust for Scotland and a consultant for the Edinburgh Fringe. He is currently the Artistic Director of Tortive Theatre and The Straw Yard in the Scottish Borders.

As an actor he has countless professional credits to his name including successful seasons in London, Stratford-upon-Avon and with international tours. Directing credits include; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Trojan Women, Happy Birthday, Dick Whittington, Cinderella, The Comedy of Errors (which transferred to the National Theatre of Romania in Craiova for the International Shakespeare Festival in 2016) and the sell-out 800th Anniversary production of William Shakespeare’s King John produced around the tomb of the King himself in 2009. He followed this with another sell-out production, Othello, in the same venue. Most recently he directed the five-star, smash-hit, one-man show Shakespeare’s Fool at the EdFringe 2021 which is recently transferred to London before touring the UK in 2022.

In 2009 Ben became the youngest member of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators (GoDA) and has served as a member of its national council. He adjudicates all over the globe at Full Length, One-Act and Speech and Drama Festivals.

In 2012 Ben was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and in 2016 was honoured to have been made a Patron of the Royal Air Force Theatrical Association. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists and currently a PhD Candidate at the University of York. Ben is a Presiding Justice in the Criminal Magistrates Courts of England and Wales and an Appellant Justice in the Crown Court.

He is delighted to be adjudicating once again for FEATS which is one of his favourite festivals.