A former pupil of St Lawrence's School, Westbury-sub-Mendip, has joined a leading London theatre company.

Ben Allen was born and brought up in the village and has been recruited by Propeller, a theatre company specialising in the plays of William Shakespeare.

Ben started his acting career with the village amateur dramatics society Westbury Footlights and starred in several of their productions including the popular 2001 production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, directed by Councillor Alistair Glanvile.

Ben continued with drama at Wells Blue School, and after his A-levels in 2003, was accepted by the University of Essex, East 15 Acting School. Propeller is run by Edward Hall, who is also associate director of the National Theatre, and the son of theatre director, Sir Peter Hall. The company specialises in finding innovative ways of producing classical works and has received critical acclaim, winning the 2011 Touring Production Award at Theatre Awards UK.

"Propeller is a fantastically lively and dynamic company," said Ben. "There is always a strong musical element and the music is always performed live."

Ben has recently appeared in the company's production of Henry V as the soldier, Michael Williams and in the new year will appear in a touring production of The Winter's Tale.

Ben said: "Propeller is a very loyal company: unlike most theatre companies that only contract you for one show at a time, with Propeller you have an automatic place in the next production, too.

"It can be very difficult to find acting jobs and you need a lot of determination. It is intensely competitive and you need a thick skin to get anywhere in the industry."

Since graduating from drama school, Ben has appeared in national tours of The History Boys and Noises Off, and appeared in All's Well that Ends Well at the National Theatre. He has also had TV appearances in the BBC archaeology drama Bonekickers and as a guest lead in Coronation Street.

Ben will be appearing at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham from January 19 and will be in Radio 4's adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's children's classic, Private Peaceful, in February.