BIOGRAPHY
Benji has performed internationally with a multitude of companies, including Snugglepot & Cuddlepie with Windmill (2007), Grandpa with Windmill and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (2008), solo artist at Carols by Candlelight (2008), Turandot with The State Opera of South Australia (2008), Different Fields with Singular Productions and The State Opera of South Australia (2010), Voices for a Better World with the World Children’s Theatre Ensemble (2010), The Ugandan 50th year independence celebration with Kwaya and The African Children’s Choir (2012), Master Harold...and the boys (2014) and Long Days Journey Into Night (2015), both with Independent Theatre. In 2015, Benji performed in BeMused for The Adelaide Cabaret Festival and went on to perform in Macbeth at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (2016). He then worked on the production of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018).
From 2017-2021, Benji studied acting at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and attended the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts, where he completed his Bachelor of Music with Honours.
Benji has more recently found himself in the world of theatrical composition, having worked in the UK on Tony Harrison’s The Mysteries Part III: Doomsday (dir. Nick Bagnall) in 2019. Later that same year, Benji wrote and directed Girl Inside, a children's musical that was performed to over 3000 school students around Adelaide. This led to the founding of his production company, The Flying Elephant Company. In 2021, he composed a series of classical movements for the internationally renowned Carducci String Quartet titled, Ode to Pa. In 2022, Benji wrote and directed his second musical, The Boy with the Golden Fox, produced by The Flying Elephant Company. 2022 also saw his work as composer and sound designer for Roots Theatre’s Blackbird (dir. Sasha Georgette and Nick Bagnall).
Benji Riggs is an Australian singer-songwriter, composer and storyteller. His work has appeared on both the local and international stage.
Benji’s upbringing as performer meant that he had already played the Adelaide Festival Theatre stage multiple times as a child. In 2001, he played as a child soloist with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. In 2010 he won the Minister for Education Award and was a finalist for the same award in 2011. In 2015, Benji was a finalist for the Pride of Australia Medal, Young Leader award. In 2016, he was awarded Young Citizen of the Year during the Australia Day celebrations.