King Lear
“As Cornwall, Ben Beckley lunges from statesman to brutal authoritarian….The essence of the play is loss and the flicker of understanding that follows it. This superb production kindles that flame in a windswept world.”
- Alex Brown, Seven Days
“The look in Beckley’s eyes, both before and after the event, and his total buy-in to Max’s alternate reality, is a marvel.”
JORDAN
“In this impressive production, director Jess Chayes and four fine actors apply a cool, contemporary polish to an engaging script....Beckley shows Wade staggering under the weight of the world, yet having the measured skepticism to shrug it off."
Alex Brown, Seven Days
The whistleblower
"He’s inspired and touching as Max, Eli and Jed’s close friend who’s lost his way. Although, don’t tell him that.”
Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post
“Beckley, who has the downturned deadpan expression of a young Jeffrey Tambor combined with alert, penetrating eyes, anchors the show as Ned, a querulous, insecure guy who’s getting his life back together after a series of alarming setbacks.”
DYING FOR IT
"Neil Pepe’s appropriately grim yet giddy production mixes gallows yuks with zany turns from one of the strongest ensembles I’ve seen in ages."
David Cote, TimeOut NY (Critics' Pick)
THAT POOR DREAM
"The design elements are impressive...as are several performances: Ben Beckley as Pip’s unflappable, sneering romantic rival; Moti Margolin as his kindhearted brother-in-law; Emily Louise Perkins as his chirpy lawyer."
Adam Feldman, TimeOut NY
GOLDOR $ MYTHYKA
"The delightfully deadpan Ben Beckley makes several memorable cameos."
Jordan G. Teicher, CurtainUp
"Ben Beckley's waiter at a sports bar hideout was particularly funny."
Mary Notari, nytheatre.com
HOME/SICK
"The performances — especially Edward Bauer as a conflicted bomb maker and Ben Beckley as a narcissistic socialist — are sharp and committed."
Catherine Rampell, The New York Times (Critics' Pick)
"Ben Beckley as the fledgling group leader is especially strong...with a pair of haunting eyes that make it seem as though he would combust were he to pursue any other course of action."
Nathaniel Kressen, nytheatre.com
THIS TIME TOMORROW
"A marathon performance of immense profundity. Though it requires a great deal from performers and spectators, This Time Tomorrow gives back in spades."
Benjamin Sutton, The L Magazine
THE COCKTAIL PARTY
"This production is being performed with elan by a high-class ensemble cast. The run has been extended for a week. It should have been a year."
Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal (Top 10 of 2010)
THE CONFIDENCE MAN
"During the three years I've been covering theater for Gothamist, I'm quite confident I've never deployed the oft-overused word 'genius' to describe a production. So then perhaps you'll trust me when I tell you The Confidence Man is most definitely a work of dazzling genius, a spellbinding feat of collective creativity."
John del Signore, Gothamist
THE THREE SISTERS
"The promising cast includes Kate Benson and Ben Beckley, who was riveting in last year's The Confidence Man."
John del Signore, Gothamist
WELCOME TO NOWHERE
"Once we've discerned that these unnerving performers aren't planning to whip out pistols and sprinkle bullets into the audience (craggy-faced Ben Beckley seemed a likely suspect), we find ourselves entering their lonely, disoriented world."
Abigail Deutsch, The Village Voice
CATO
"...this rich play, which receives a rare and powerful staging by Jim Simpson at the Flea Theater, resists simple characterizations, and its explorations of leadership and honor during wartime make it more than just a historical curiosity."
Jason Zinoman, The New York Times (Critics' Pick)
TWELVE OPHELIAS
"It's absolutely refreshing, in the present-day theatre world full of shows that can easily be TV sitcoms or TV dramas, to see a production that's truly, genuinely, wonderfully theatrical."
Saviana Stanescu, nytheatre.com
LOS ANGELES
"Director Adam Rapp colors the proceedings with menace and shade, allowing each actor (most of them non-equity thesps from the Flea's resident company) the chance to murkily shine."
Alexis Soloski, The Village Voice
“Ben Beckley is hilarious as the short-fused father.”
OFF STAGE:
THE WEST VILLAGE
FRAGMENTS
"...warmhearted and well-researched; a treat for anyone with an interest in the origins of downtown theater."
Jason Zinoman, The New York Times
THE ILLUSION
"The father is a self-satisfied lawyer, playing with exacting, black-suited priggishness by Ben Beckley."
Louise Kennedy, The Boston Globe
ANDY AND EDIE
"...kudos to Ben Beckley for his spot-on vocal mimicry..."
Deidre McFadyen, Off-Off Online
"Ben Beckley offers a quick, pungent cartoon of the late George Plimpton."
Adam Feldman, TimeOut New York
ARCADIA
"There hadn't been a buzz on the Princeton campus to match Thursday's opening night excitement for Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at Theatre Intime since a celebrated production of Equus half a generation ago. Ben Beckley is a dour Valentine, relieved nicely by occasional spurts of pithy humor."
Stuart Duncan, The Princeton Packet
MACBETH
"Ben Beckley essayed the role of Duncan well."
Elias Stimac, The Off-Off Broadway Review
PICASSO AT THE LAPIN
AGILE
"Benjamin Beckley '02 prances onto stage as Picasso and his exuberance about painting and womanizing immediately captivates the audience. As he waves his pencil, his words enthrall."
Aili McConnon, The Daily Princetonian
KISS OF THE SPIDER
WOMAN
"Beckley's Valentin plays nicely off [Rakesh] Satyal's lighter Molina. His highly-stylized voice is ideal for the most intense moments of the musical, bringing a great deal of strength to numbers such as 'Over the Wall' and 'The Day After That.' It is a difficult part to tackle and Beckley does so with gusto."
Iris Blasi, The Daily Princetonian