Kevin Bennett grew up on the Canadian West Coast, where his childhood was filled with boating adventures and an unexpected devotion to dressing up as Mother Goose. With a father who was a radio program director, he was surrounded by the rhythms of audio entertainment long before beginning his own journey in theatre. He started as an actor before shifting to directing, specialising in Shakespeare and the classics. Over the past fifteen years, he has worked extensively with Shakespeare’s Globe in the UK and directed internationally, working across Canada, China, India, Europe and the USA. He trained at the Stratford Festival and later directed at the Shaw Festival, where his production of The Madness of George III was named one of the Wall Street Journal’s top ten productions of the year.
Beyond professional theatre, Kevin has been committed to working with marginalised communities, using the arts to connect people and spark creativity. His passion for bringing people together through performance eventually led him back to the world of audio, where he created The Big Smoke Variety Show—a podcast that blends his love for storytelling, live entertainment, and unexpected conversations.