Benedict Lombe

Benedict Lombe is a Congolese-British writer. She has won multiple awards as a playwright, including the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (2022) for her debut play Lava (2021).^[1] Her play Shifters premiered at Bush Theatre in 2024 and transferred to the Duke of York's Theatre in the same year, making Lombe the third ever Black woman to have a play staged in the West End.^[2]

Lombe was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. She moved to the UK as a child, residing in Wigan from the age of 12 until moving away for university.^[3] She attended Bournemouth University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Scriptwriting for Film and TV in 2013.^[4]

After finishing university, Lombe co-founded The Rat’s Nest Theatre Company with her friend Charlotte Rogers with the help of a grant from their university.^[5][4] With the company, Lombe and Rogers co-wrote and co-produced Chaos by Design^[6], a play about the struggles of women in the DRC. The piece was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2013^[4], followed by a special run in Bournemouth in October as part of Black History Month celebrations.^[5]

In 2019, Lombe was selected for the 503FIVE scheme at Theatre503, where she completed a writing residency.^[7] She has also been an attachment writer at the National Theatre^[8] and has been part of the Emerging Writers' Group at the Bush Theatre,^[9] where both of her major plays, Lava^[10][11] and Shifters,^[12] were premiered.

Lava, a one-woman play starring Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo and directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike, opened at the Bush in 2021. It went on to win the 2022 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize^[13] - the oldest and largest prize honouring women+ playwrights^[14] writing for English-speaking theatre.^[15] Lombe thus became one of the first playwrights to win the prize for a debut play.^[1] Lava also won prizes at the Black British Theatre Awards and the 2022 Offies, and it was nominated for the Alfred Fagon Award for Best New Play of the Year.

Lombe's next play Shifters, a two-hander romance starring Tosin Cole and Heather Agyepong, directed by Lynette Linton, opened in 2024 to widespread acclaim from UK theatre press.^{[12][16][17][18][19]} Shifters transferred to the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End from 12 August to 12 October 2024.^[20] Shifters was nominated for Best New Play for the 2025 Olivier Awards (making Lombe the first Black British woman to achieve this nomination).^[21]

Among Lombe's writing influences are Lynn Nottage, debbie tucker green and Paula Vogel.^[22]