John Sheedy (director)

John Sheedy is an Australian theatre director, born in Geelong in 1972. He was educated at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. Based in Melbourne, he is a director of drama and musicals for the stage as well as opera. He has been described as "a director of bold vision both filmic and theatrical”.

Over the past decade, Sheedy has built up a body of work for theatres in Australia and overseas festivals. He has been a regular guest at Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Black Swan State Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare and the Perth International Arts Festival. His work has been praised for its visceral performances, innovative staging and arresting visual style. His recent production of The Rabbits (a new opera for Opera Australia with Kate Miller-Heidke) was the fastest selling production in the 2015 Melbourne Festival and the Perth International Arts Festival and received 5 star reviews. His 2014 production of Jasper Jones (an adaptation by Kate Mulvany from Craig Silvey’s novel) and Storm Boy (adapted for the stage by Tom Holloway, based on the Colin Thiele novel) earned him several best director nominations and awards.

Sheedy has a career working with Australian theatre companies. For Belvoir Street Theatre, Sheedy directed Sarah Kane’s play Blasted, Lawrence Mooney’s Sink or Swim and Patricia Cornelius’ play Love ( 2006 ), Sheedy was also Assistant Director on The Lieutenant of Inishmore with Neil Armfield (2004). Sheedy directed a season of Mark Ravenhill’s play Some Explicit Polaroids at Darlinghurst Theatre. Some Explicit Polaroids and Love were both nominated for Best Independent Production at the 2006 Sydney Theatre Awards. For the Sydney Theatre Company Sheedy was Assistant Director to Richard Cottrell on Ying Tong – A Walk with the Goons, which went on to tour Australia and assisted Julian Meyrick on Doubt for its national tour. Sheedy directed several rehearsed play readings of the winning scripts for the Patrick White awards and directed the season of Storm Boy in 2013 and 2015 at the Sydney Theatre Company.

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