Becoming Benjamin Lay – 2026

Wednesday, April 15, 5:30 PM

Becoming Benjamin Lay
Director: Tony Buba, Documentary, USA, 55 min
Becoming Benjamin Lay follows the journey actor Mark Povinelli takes in adapting his one person show “The Return of Benjamin Lay” for a performance before the Little People of America conference in Baltimore in 2024. The play was written by Naomi Wallace and Marcus Rediker.
Benjamin Lay a dwarf was born in 1682 in Copford, England and died in Pennsylvania in 1759. Most people have never heard of Benjamin Lay. As historian and playwright Marcus Rediker says, “Benjamin Lay is the most fascinating and one of the most important historical figures that you’ve never heard of.” Lay was a man centuries ahead of his time: a radical Quaker, a fierce abolitionist, and a relentless truth-teller. He stood barely four feet tall, yet he towered morally over the society that condemned him. His story challenges us to confront our own complacency and to imagine what moral courage might look like today. This is a film that blurs the line between biography and awakening.

Screens with:

Casino!
Director: Izzy Leung, Experimental, USA, 15 min
A group of community theater actors create a casino through a sense-memory workshop and explore the workshop’s effect on their own histories, imaginations, and performances.