We were saddened to hear of the passing of Stuart Bennett on 28 January 2015.
Stuart was a pioneer in the theatre for young audiences sector and was instrumental in developing the Theatre in Education (TiE) movement in this country in the 1960s and 70s.
Stuart joined Rose Bruford College in the mid 1970's, teaching on our BA Theatre Arts programme before becoming Director of our groundbreaking BA Community Theatre Arts programme.
In 1982 Stuart took up the role of Director of the Cockpit Theatre in London and then went on to work as the Refugee Theatre Co-ordinator at the Inner City Theatre, Hackney.
He taught and wrote about working for, by and with children and young people and in 2005 edited the book 'Theatre for Children and Young People: 50 Years of Professional Theatre in the UK'.
Stuart continued to have a long-standing relationship with the College which he continued most recently in his support for our Theatre for Young Audiences Centre. He donated an extensive collection of film and written material from his days at the Cockpit to its archive and was on the advisory committee for the Centre when it was established in 2011.
Despite recent ill health Stuart continued to be an active advocate for theatre in its broadest sense and his towering frame and seemingly unending energy will be greatly missed by those who knew him.