Ben Brantley

Ben Brantley was formerly the co-chief theater critic for The New York Times. He has been a staff critic since 1996, filing reviews regularly from London as well as New York. Subjects of his profiles include the underground Belarus Free Theater in Minsk, and Barbra Streisand in Malibu.

Before joining the Times in 1993, Mr. Brantley was a staff writer for the New Yorker and Vanity Fair. He reviewed fashion for Women’s Wear Daily, where he was the Paris bureau chief and European editor, and movies for Elle magazine.
Mr. Brantley grew up in Winston-Salem, N.C., and graduated from Swarthmore College. He is the editor of two books of New York Times theater reviews and a recipient of the George Jean Nathan Award for theater criticism.