Ben Target

Shedinburgh Spotlight - LORENZO By Ben Target ⏰ Tuesday 12 August, 6pm Ben Target is a critically-acclaimed performance artist and multi-award-winning comedian (yawn), but in 2020 he gave this up to become the live-in carer for an irascible octogenarian prankster. Directed by Adam Brace and Lee Griffiths. Scotsman Fringe First Winner 2023, followed by acclaimed runs in London (Soho Theatre), New York, and Vancouver. #Shedinburgh #EdFringe

🛐 LET US PRAY… • 🎬 By Kiloran O’Leary

🗽 LORENZO IN NEW YORK CITY • In 2017, I sat down in my kitchen and dreamed of someday making it over to New York City with a show. Years went by and I forgot about that dream. But then, in April 2024, an extraordinary team of gorgeous people put my show LORENZO on at 59e59 Theaters. • So, I guess the lesson is: don’t stop dreaming but then do stop dreaming but only to continue to not stop dreaming. OK? • Thank you to everyone who came along for the ride. We had a glorious time… • 1️⃣ Team LORENZO. Clockwise from top left: Lee Griffiths (Director 2.0), Rose Hockaday (Stage Manager, U.K. edition), Ben Targét (me), Robert Wells (Lighting Designer), Madeleine Blossom (Stage Manager, U.S. edition), Maddie Wilson (Producer for Soho Theatre). 2️⃣ Opening night. 3️⃣ The Yankees win the ball game. 4️⃣ Cousins (U.S. & U.K. editions). 5️⃣ My Director 1.0, Adam Brace, died whilst we were making the show (😢). He loved The Metropolitan Museum of Art, so we went to honour him with a visit and decided this sarcophagus was the most like him. 6️⃣ Claridads Assemble! 7️⃣ Catching up with my stand-up and theatre making buddies, Pat Burtscher and Angela Yeoh. 8️⃣ A wild evening out in Manhattan with superstars, Sophie Swithinbank, Chloe Radcliffe and the real Statue of Liberty. 9️⃣ I have been adopted by a family of bears. 🔟 Rowing in Central Park. 1️⃣1️⃣ This is not my store (one of the many reasons to boycott it). 1️⃣2️⃣ My favourite girlfriend Sophie Swithinbank and I went on a plush date to the Grand Central Oyster Bar. 1️⃣3️⃣ The view from Roosevelt Island. 1️⃣4️⃣ Two artists in The Big Apple. 1️⃣5️⃣ Two artists in The Big Apple. • Big love to the wonderful people at 59e59 Theaters, Jean Doumanian Productions, Barrow Street Theatricals, Soho Theatre and (extra special love to) Sophie Swithinbank for making this dream come true. • #broadway

⛷️ WHISTLER BLACKCOMB • At the end of January, Sophie Swithinbank and I snuck off to visit my cousin Finn Target (a legendary ski instructor) at his office, the mountains of Whistler and Blackcomb. We had a whip-round for second hand equipment, Finn blagged us some ski passes and then he taught us how to ski. Despite the subsequent broken toe and bruised ribs, we had the best of times! • A chronology of learning to ski: • 1️⃣ Beginners assemble. 2️⃣ Finn shows us which way is down. 3️⃣ Chairlift (not the band). 4️⃣ Sophie takes a tumble. 5️⃣ Pouts with clout. 6️⃣ Ben takes a tumble. 7️⃣ Finn teaches us how to fall (better). • ‘Preciate you, Finn. It was also an utter delight to get to hangout with Sophie Harrison and Gabe Nolan. • #whistler

🍁 LORENZO IN VANCOUVER • In January, my show LORENZO was invited to play the incredible PuSh Festival in Vancouver. I had the best time and am grateful to everyone who made it happen. • A catalogue of happy memories: • 1️⃣ My first ever Live Described show, working with the phenomenal Cas at Vocal Eye, who provided access to theatre patrons who weren’t able to see the performance. 2️⃣ The shipping crate I built (in a car park, in the snow, in the middle of December) for the LORENZO set. Kudos to Tom Hartshorne and Rob Copland who assisted heroically. 3️⃣ The show opens the festival at the Annex theatre. 4️⃣ The LORENZO team joy-riding Vancouver’s public transport. Left to right: Rose Hockaday (Stage Manager and lifelong Vancouver Canucks convert), Ben Targét (me), Lee Griffiths (Director 2.0 and long suffering New York Jets fan). 5️⃣ My favourite girlfriend, Sophie Swithinbank, comes to visit. We went looking for bears (all the kinds) in Stanley Park but found the Third Beach instead. It was the first time I’ve seen snow on sand and the first time I’ve ever seen someone tumble out of a forest and land on their arse in said snow on sand. 6️⃣ After getting completely lost in the West End, we found some city bikes and proceeded to cycle on ice - the most lethal of vibes. 7️⃣ Family reunion - two cousins and two Sophies. Left to right: Finn Target, Ben Target, Sophie Harrison, Sophie Swithinbank. 8️⃣ At the ice hockey. No idea what’s going on here but everyone seems to be having fun. 9️⃣ Where’s Wally? (Or Waldo, if you’re North American.) A day out at Vancouver Aquarium, riding the gentle currents of the city’s local apothecary provisions. The very best of times. 🔟 The PuSh Festival Dramaturg Clinics: I was lucky enough to be a part of the amazing team of international Dramaturgs who got to work with Vancouver’s theatre makers. I remain in awe of every artist I met. • In being in Vancouver, I worked on the unceded and traditional territories of the the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ first nations and I express my gratitude to them for caring for the land from time immemorial and for the invitation to be there respectfully. • #vancouver

🗽 ADVENTURES IN NEW YORK CITY • In January, I stopped by the city that never sleeps to see my favourite girlfriend Sophie Swithinbank and her incredible play Bacon at the SoHo Playhouse. • Here’s a selection of our adventures: • 1️⃣ Optimism in an 80s puffa jacket. 2️⃣ Sophie does her first ever Spoken Word gig at Secret Pour. She was lit. Deliciously proud. The place was heaving with talent, good times and legendary heckles: “Oh! So! We’re goin’ literal now!”. I was jet-lagged to fuck with delirium, but still, if you’re ever in Brooklyn, go visit. 3️⃣ The Bacon crew ready themselves to crank out another sterling show. 4️⃣ Laws & Targét, future Private Investigators, lap it up in Manhattan. 5️⃣ The opulence of Katz’s Deli. 6️⃣ Muscles. 7️⃣ Spin class with Joe Young and Hannah Farley Hills. 8️⃣ The goat of love appears. 9️⃣ Breaking into MoMA through the fire exit. 🔟 Flying out in a snow storm. • #newyorkcity

🏰 LORENZO IN LONDON • In October 2023, I had the pleasure of playing Soho Theatre for four weeks with my show LORENZO. Thanks to everyone who came along for the ride. • Here’s a few glimpses down memory lane: • 1️⃣ A lovely shoutout in Stageberry. 2️⃣ My face on a building (and it’s not a Wanted poster). 3️⃣ Prepping the set, doing the checks, making sure everything is in order. 4️⃣ The show’s wonderful Stage Manager, Rose Hockaday, me (Ben Targét) and our benevolent Director 2.0, Lee Griffiths, have one last squeeze before opening night. 5️⃣ The loveliest of audiences. 6️⃣ The best part of performing is when your friends come to see you and you have a good one. 7️⃣ My dear friend and fellow writer Lizzy Mansfield (who consulted on the show’s early drafts) and I dive into our favourite post-show restaurant. 8️⃣ My dear friend and fellow comedian Helen Duff and I catch a pre-show exhibition. Importantly, this one was of Sarah Lucas’ various wanking arms. 9️⃣ Powered by plants. 🔟 Ben Ten. • #sohotheatre

☕️ LORENZO IN EDINBURGH • Every day, before I take to the stage, I write a postcard to my old friend and I think about all the times I am grateful we shared. I have made a show about these times that I got to spend with him. I would love to share it with you. • 16th - 25th August — 1:20pm — Pleasance Dome (King Dome) • Tickets: link in bio. • 📸 Candid photograph by Lee Griffiths • #lorenzo

☕️ LORENZO IN EDINBURGH • It’s all go! My Fringe First Award winning show is back at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This show has a special place in my heart and I would love to share it and re-share it with you. Come along for the ride… • 16th - 25th August — 1:20pm — Pleasance Dome (King Dome) • Tickets: link in bio or visit • About: — Picture 1 - LORENZO is part of Soho Theatre’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 programme. — Picture 2 - I now have a poignant face tattoo. — Picture 3 - A cheeky little blurb about the show. • #lorenzo

💞 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE 2023 • It’s been a lil’ ol’ while but here’s a chronological deep dive into the heaps of good times with good people that was last summer… • 1️⃣ Serving coffee to my gorgeous audiences at the start of my show LORENZO in Summerhall’s spiritually enriching Anatomy Room (AKA The James Rowland Centre For Napping). — 2️⃣ Pre-show rituals with all-round legend, fellow Singaporean (we were born in the same hospital!) and the best venue technician ever, Florian Lim. — 3️⃣ A flying visit from my BFF, Letty Butler, full of dance shows, cocktails and Sichuan cuisine. — 4️⃣ An afternoon of too many whiskies with my dear friends and fellow stand-ups, Sarah Conrad and Salma Lyons. — 5️⃣ An Official Targét Fam Gathering™️. From left to right: Câtherine, Lūke, Hügo and Bèn (me). — 6️⃣ The hubris of mid-festival relief. — 7️⃣ A day trip to the coast with the multi-talented Matthew Barker: professional performer, amateur botanist. — 8️⃣ Two playwrights journey up an extinct volcano - the extraordinary Sophie Swithinbank and me, that is. (Also, I’d like to note here that the Moomin cap is hers but we made a bet on our walk, a bet that’ll likely result in this cap being mine in ten years time. Just saying. You heard it here first.) — 9️⃣ I win The Scotsman’s Fringe First Award for new writing in theatre and because my phone camera is so shit, all I am left with is this blurry recollection. — 🔟 A lunchtime of gratitudes. Firstly, to celebrate the adventure of a life - that of my dear and dearly departed Director, Adam Brace, who convinced me to make my show and without whom it would not exist. Secondly, celebrating the adventure of a lifetime - making this tiny show with a wonderful team, a show that has carried us far already and is carrying us further still. From left to right: me (Ben, bald, bawdy), Rose Hockaday (Stage Manager, cat whisperer, ice hockey enthusiast), Maddie Wilson (Producer, ukulele maestro, globe trotter), Becca Biscuit (Performance Artist, Kir Royale patron, the actual best), Tim Hopkins (Facilities Manager, polymath, ceaselessly magnanimous). • 🗣️ My show LORENZO will return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024. • #moominvalley

🗽 LORENZO IN NEW YORK CITY • A lovely shoutout here from the good folk at Off Off Broadway Online. Come and see the show! • 24th April - 19th May — 7:15pm (matinees at 2:15pm) — 59E59 Theaters • Tickets: link in bio or visit • About: — Ben Targét is a critically-acclaimed performance artist and multi-award-winning comedian (yawn), but in 2020 he gave this up to become the live-in carer for an irascible octogenarian prankster. — A life-affirming story about death, conveyed through the popular mediums of storytelling, servitude to the audience and live carpentry, a combination not seen on the world stage since Nazareth (circa 30AD). — “A joyous celebration of what it means to love deeply” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ FEST — Winner: The Scotsman Fringe First Award, 2023 • Creatives: — 🎯 Writer & Performer - Ben Targét (me) ❤️ Director - Adam Brace 🎬 Director 2.0 - Lee Griffiths ⚙️ Producer - Maddie Wilson and David Luff at Soho Theatre in association with Barrow Street Theatricals & Jean Doumanian Productions 🪚 Set Designer - Tom Hartshorne for Morice Designs 💡 Lighting Designer - Robert Wells 🔧 Stage Manager - Rose Hockaday 🇺🇸 U.S. Stage Manager - Madeleine Blossom 🪩 Choreographer - Chelsey Weisz 💅 Creative Consultant - Letty Butler 🤓 Additional Consultants - Alex Hardy, Joz Norris, Lizzy Mansfield, Miranda Holms • 📸 Photographs by Melinda Graber • #broadway

🗽 LORENZO IN NEW YORK CITY • Come and see our show in the Big Apple. • 24th April - 19th May — 7:15pm (matinees at 2:15pm) — 59E59 Theaters • Tickets: link in bio or visit • About: — Ben Targét is a critically-acclaimed performance artist and multi-award-winning comedian (yawn), but in 2020 he gave this up to become the live-in carer for an irascible octogenarian prankster. — A life-affirming story about death, conveyed through the popular mediums of storytelling, servitude to the audience and live carpentry, a combination not seen on the world stage since Nazareth (circa 30AD). — “A joyous celebration of what it means to love deeply” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ FEST — Winner: The Scotsman Fringe First Award, 2023 • Creatives: — 🎯 Writer & Performer - Ben Targét (me) ❤️ Director - Adam Brace 🎬 Director 2.0 - Lee Griffiths ⚙️ Producer - Maddie Wilson and David Luff at Soho Theatre in association with Barrow Street Theatricals & Jean Doumanian Productions 🪚 Set Designer - Tom Hartshorne for Morice Designs 💡 Lighting Designer - Robert Wells 🔧 Stage Manager - Rose Hockaday 🪩 Choreographer - Chelsey Weisz 💅 Creative Consultant - Letty Butler 🤓 Additional Consultants - Alex Hardy, Joz Norris, Lizzy Mansfield, Miranda Holms • 📸 Photograph by Maddie Wilson • #broadway