Benjamin Seng-Loong Yeoh (born December 1978) is a

British Chinese British Chinese (), also known as Chinese British or Chinese Britons, are people of Chineseparticularly Han Chineseancestry who reside in the United Kingdom, constituting the second-largest group of Overseas Chinese in Western Europe after Fran ...

playwright.

Biography

Born on the outskirts of London, Yeoh's father came from

Ipoh Ipoh (, ) is the capital city of the Malaysian States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Perak. Located on the Kinta River, it is nearly north of Kuala Lumpur and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town in neighbouring Penang ...

, Malaysia and mother from

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. His grandfather

Datuk Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay language, Malay honorific title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Use of the title various between loc ...

Yeoh Cheang Lee was the first non-European chairman of the Perak Turf Club. Yeoh won a scholarship to

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

. He went on to study

Natural Sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

, the same college as his father and grand father. He then went on to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

as a Herchel Smith scholar studying dramaturgy and play writing. Yeoh is also among the first generation of writers to have come from the

Soho Theatre Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, and Soho Theatre Walthamstow in north-east London. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three pe ...

Young Writers' Programme. He has also been on the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

's writers' programme led in 2005 by playwright Jane Bodie. Yeoh has directed several plays and has been involved with writing groups and mentorships such as Royal Court Writers, Soho Young Writers, BBC Radio, Moti Roti, Talawa and Yellow Ink. He sat on the board and then as Chair of Talawa Theatre Company for eight years until 2012. He (as of 2017 and since 2014) is Chair of the London-based theatre company, Coney. Yeoh's podcast has interviewed playwright

Mark Ravenhill Mark Ravenhill (born 7 June 1966) is an English playwright, actor and journalist. Ravenhill is one of the most widely performed playwrights in British theatre of the late-twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His major plays include '' Shoppi ...

, actor

Sally Phillips Sally Elizabeth Phillips (born 10 May 1970) is an English actress, comedian, and television presenter. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show '' Smack the Pony''. She is also known for her roles in '' Jam & Jerusale ...

, economist

Diane Coyle Dame Diane Coyle (born 12 February 1961) is a British economist. Since March 2018, she has been the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, co-directing the Bennett Institute. Coyle's early career as an economist wa ...

, philosopher Jonathan Wolff. Yeoh is known for his sustainable and socially responsible investing work. He won the Thomson Extel Award for Best Sector Sell-side Analyst for Integrated Socially Responsible Investment Analysis in 2003. Yeoh sat on the UK financial regulatory body

Financial Reporting Council The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is an independent regulator in the UK and Ireland based in London Wall in the City of London, responsible for regulating auditors, accountants and actuaries, and setting the UK's Corporate Governance and ...

Investor Advisory group (from 2018) and the Royal London Asset Management Sustainable Investing advisory committee. As of 2021, Yeoh was an associate fellow of

Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...

, Sustainability Accelerator.

Plays

''Lemon Love'' (2001)

His first play, ''Lemon Love'', was performed by Louie Bayliss and Salima Saxton at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

, London (2001). ''Lemon Love'' is a revenge love story that involved a mystical older couple guiding and berating a younger couple in their stormy relationship. Directed by Elizabeth Freestone.

''Lost in Peru'' (2003)

''Lost in Peru'', was his second full length piece, first performed at the Camden People's Theatre, London (2003). It was

Arts Council of England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bo ...

funded. The play dealt with torture and interwove personal tragedies with those on a larger scale particularly ' the disappeared' in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. The UK newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' suggested that 'while Yeoh and director Sarah Levinsky should get praise for trying to push the boundaries of form and style, both probably need reminding that there is no point in innovations and performance styles whose tricksiness threaten to bore the audience to death

''Yellow Gentlemen'' (2006)

A reading of his third play called ''Yellow Men'', at the time (2004), was performed at the Soho Theatre and was produced by

Yellow Earth Theatre New Earth Theatre (previously ''Yellow Earth Theatre'') is a British touring theatre company based in London and established in 1995 to raise the profile of British East and Southeast Asian (BESEA) theatre. The company also runs several initiativ ...

. It also received Arts Council funding. ''Yellow Men'' was renamed ''Yellow Gentlemen'

and performed at the Oval House Theatre in February - March, 2006. Time Out applauded "...the vertiginous sense of possibility and regret present in Yeoh’s intelligent script."

''Patent Breaking Life Saving'' (2006)

''Patent Breaking Life Saving'', directed by

Jessica Dromgoole Jessica Dromgoole is a British director of contemporary theatre and radio-plays, as well as a former Artistic Director of the Finborough Theatre from 1988 to 1991. In 1991 she became New Writing Co-ordinator for BBC Drama, Entertainment and Chil ...

was broadcast by

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

in December 2006. It starred Danny Sapani and

Tanya Moodie Tanya Moodie (born 16 April 1972) is a British-Canadian actor and producer, best known for her work on ''Motherland'', ''Silo'', and her many stage credits, which include productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatr ...

. The play was about an African President who hits his head and starts giving out medicines for free.

''The Places In Between'' (2007) (adaptation)

The Places in Between, a dramatisation of the book by

Rory Stewart Roderick James Nugent Stewart (born 3 January 1973) is a British academic, broadcaster, writer, and former diplomat and politician. He has taught at Harvard University and at Yale University. He currently teaches and co-directs the Brady-Jo ...

, directed by

Kirsty Williams Victoria Kirstyn Williams (born 19 March 1971) is a Welsh politician who served as Minister for Education in the Welsh Government from 2016 to 2021. She was a Member of the Senedd (MS) from 1999 to 2021. She previously served as the Leader of ...

and starring

Greg Wise Matthew Gregory Wise (born 15 May 1966) is an English actor and producer. He has appeared in several British television programmes and feature films. He played the role of John Willoughby in ''Sense and Sensibility'', which also starred Emma Th ...

was broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

on 15 February 2007. The story is about Rory Stewart, who walks across

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

just after the fall of the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

''Nakamitsu'' (2007)

Nakamitsu won the international Gate Theatre Translation Award and was performed 24 May - 16 June 2007. It is a version of a Japanese

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

play. The UK newspaper, the ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

'' said of Nakamitsu: ''Small but exquisitely formed, Benjamin Yeoh's new version of a 14th-century Japanese Noh play is fusion theatre, borrowing from east as well as west. It is both strange and familiar, accessible and remote, restrained and yet somehow full-blown.''�

''House of Cards'' (2012 - 14)

Yeoh wrote the recorded dialogue for Coney'

interactive re-imagining of Kensington Palace's State apartments, called House of Cards

''Thinking Bigly: A Guide to Saving the World'' (2019 - 2021)

Yeoh co-wrote, with David Finnigan, and performed Thinking Bigly, a performance-lecture at Theatre Deli, London. and on-line versions. On reviewing, Laura Kressly wrote "Their lecture-performance amalgamates these three topics into an engaging, informative and interactive presentation that gives a wide-angle view on what we can do to save the planet." * Yeoh has also had work on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

(The Inventor of Fireworks performed by

David Yip David Nicholas Yip ( zh, t=葉西園, p=Yè Xīyuán; born 4 June 1951) is a British actor and playwright. He gained prominence through his role in the BBC series '' The Chinese Detective'' (1981–1982) as the first Chinese lead on British tel ...

on 22 January 2004

and several readings of other works.