In Memoriam

Fringe Theatre Adventures and the artists, volunteers and staff of the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival lost members of our extended Festival-family this year. Join us in remembering their contribution to our community.

Benjamin Dudley Foster
Actor, Writer, Director and Entrepreneur
b. 8th February 1965, d. 22nd July 2011

Ben Foster — also known in the acting world as Ben Dudley — who has died aged 46, loved the Edmonton Fringe and loved the many friends he made here. First seen as the eponymous hero in the English Suitcase Theatre's production of Billy Budd in 1990, Ben went on to visit the Fringe many times, in productions including Crystal Clear, The Collector — which he also adapted from the novel —Closer and as the director of Diary of a Madman. I believe his final performance at Edmonton was in the Dance of the Three Sleeping Bags at the closing ceremony in 2005; the bathos of which I'm sure would have appealed to him greatly.

The son of two well-known English actors, theatre was in Ben’s blood and in many ways he found his spiritual home here in one of the world’s greatest fringe festivals — surrounded by the kindred spirits whose friendship over the years meant a great deal to him. Ben had a restless soul — and a life touring the festival circuit in Canada suited him perfectly. Despite his apparently extrovert and optimistic demeanour, however, Ben struggled with inner demons for much of his life, and this summer the struggle finally became too hard. He will be missed desperately by his friends and family in England, but it’s a great comfort to know that he is also held in the thoughts and hearts of our many friends in Canada.

Kevin Hosier