Jo Bradley

Jo is a director, dramaturg and producer who is passionate about new and contemporary playwriting. In 2024, she graduated from the NIDA Directing course and founded her own theatre company, JB Theatre Co https://jbtheatreco.com/ (@JBTheatreCo). She is a graduate of NIDA (Master of Fine Arts Directing) and UNSW (BA (Hons) in Theatre and Performance Studies.

JB Theatre Co launched with the Australian premiere of SNOWFLAKE by Mike Bartlett at the Old Fitz’s Mainstage, Directed by Jo Bradley. SNOWFLAKE, co-produced by Jo Bradley and Kurtis Laing (under Good Time Theatrics), sold out, received rave reviews, and won a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress (Independent Production) for Lilian Alejandra Valverde. In 2026, SNOWFLAKE will transfer to Ensemble, Australia’s longest continuously running professional theatre, and Jo will make her professional directing debut. 

Jo was recently awarded the prize of “Best Emerging Artist” at Sydney Fringe Festival 2025, for her work as director, producer and dramaturg on the world premiere of GIA OPHELIA by Grace Wilson. GIA OPHELIA marked Jo’s solo producing debut under her new company, JB Theatre Co. The show received a sell-out Sydney Fringe run, extending for a second week, and receiving a nomination for the “Best in Theatre” category at the Sydney Fringe Festival Awards. As part of its world premiere, Jo organised a series of community engagement events, funded by Randwick City Council Community Creative Grant, to develop emerging artists. GIA OPHELIA will return to Sydney at KXT on Broadway from 11-15 February 2025. 

Jo’s directing practice has a strong literary focus, and she loves collaborating with new writers as a director and dramaturg. GIA OPHELIA is her fourth collaboration with Grace Wilson. Other directing work includes SEEN (Xavier Hazard), YOUNG BODIES/SOMEBODY’S (Miranda Michalowski) and various staged readings at KXT Storytellers and Old Fitz New Work Festival, including work by Bianca Watkins, Domenic Anthony, and Grace Wilson. 

While at NIDA, Jo directed SEEN by Xavier Hazard, the LATE BLOOMER dance music video for Angela Rose (NIDA x TRIPLE J ), and an excerpt from WHEREVER SHE WANDERS by Kendall Feaver (as part of a collaboration with ACA Acting students). She also Assistant Directed SCENES WITH GIRLS by Miriam Battye, under Imara Savage.

In 2024, as part of her NIDA Directing Course, she spent two months in the UK and Europe. She completed a production internship at the Finborough Theatre London (a company specialising in new work and undiscovered classics), which involved Assistant Directing BANGING DENMARK under Sally Woodcock. While in the UK, she observed tech week for Headlong, Frantic Assembly and Chichester Festival Theatre’s world premiere of THE HOUSE PARTY by Laura Lomas, (a modern adaption of Strindberg’s MISS JULIE) directed by Headlong Artistic Director Holly Race Roughan. Jo also attended Cannes Film Festival under the ‘3 Days in Cannes’ program in 2024 for early-career filmmakers and critics. 

Jo has completed directorial observations on rehearsals and tech weeks for Headlong, Frantic Assembly and Chichester Festival Theatre (THE HOUSE PARTY Directed by Holly Race Roughan), Sydney Theatre Company (COST OF LIVING Directed by Priscilla Jackman and Dan Daw), PACT (THE CHANGELINGSDirected by Zoe Hollyoak) and Griffin Theatre Company (FIRST LOVE IS THE REVOLUTION Directed by Lee Lewis). Her Assistant Directing credits include I & YOU (25A 2025, Dir: Claudia Barrie), BANGING DENMARK (Finborough Theatre, London 2024, Dir: Sally Woodcock), SCENES WITH GIRLS (NIDA 2023, Dir: Imara Savage).

Jo works as a freelance theatre critic, writing for Limelight Arts, and her blog Scribbles of Stage and Screen (@ScribblesOStageAndScreen). She also is a script reader for a range of playwriting awards and commissions, and recently completed a literary internship at Belvoir st Theatre under Dom Mercer, Head of New Work.

Jo is a teaching artist and disability support worker, who uses her personal experience of intellectual disability in her family to engage in her arts practice. She works as a freelance teaching artist at Marian St Theatre, ATYP, Pymble Ladies’ College, amongst others, teaching after-school and school holiday drama classes.

While at UNSW, she was a recipient of the SAM School of the Arts Theatre Scholarship for academic excellence in Theatre Studies. She received First Class Honours for her thesis, titled “What does Female Leadership Look like?”, an investigation into the Female Artistic Directors of Australia’s major theatre companies, and the gender politics that surround high-profile women in power, and their leadership styles. 

At NIDA, she received the Andrew and Cathy Cameron Scholarship, and wrote her graduate thesis project investigating theatrical ways that directors ‘stage the internet’ engaging multimedia project, inspired by her NIDA Graduate production. 

Her full bio can be found at Jo-Bradley.com and her website JBTheatreCo.com