# Jo Bonney

Jo Bonney is an American theater director who has worked Off-Broadway, regionally and internationally, primarily focused on the development of new plays.

## Early life and education

Bonney was born in Australia. She attended Sydney University before transferring to Sydney College of the Arts (Grad. Fine Arts) and worked at The Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

## Career

Bonney moved to New York City in 1979. In the early 1980s, she co-directed two short films with Ruth Peyser, 'Another Great Day' (shown nationally on PBS) and 'Random Positions'. Bonney began her work in theater directing the solo work of her husband, Eric Bogosian. She has directed the premiere productions of over thirty plays – notably work by Bogosian, Lynn Nottage, Danny Hoch, Suzan-Lori Parks, Martina Majok, Neil LaBute, Naomi Wallace and José Rivera. Bonney edited Extreme Exposure: An Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the Twentieth Century (published in 2000 by TCG).

## Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations Bonney has received include:
* 2023 Tony Award nomination, Best Direction of a Play, Cost of Living
* 2019 Obie Award, Sustained Excellence of Direction
* 2018 Lucille Lortel, Outstanding Director Nomination, Mlima's Tale
* 2018 Outer Critics Circle, Outstanding Director nomination, Cost of Living
* 2018 Legends of Off-Broadway
* 2014 Joseph Callaway Award (SDC)
* 2013 Audelco Award, Father Comes Home from the Wars: Parts 1, 2 & 3
* 2011 Drama Desk, Best Director nomination, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
* 2011 Lucille Lortel, Best Director nomination, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
* 2011 Lilly Award (Directing)
* 2003 Lucille Lortel, Outstanding Director Best Revival, Fifth of July
* 1998 Obie Award, Sustained Excellence of Direction

## Work

| Year | Play | Playwright | Theater |
| 1983 | funHouse | Eric Bogosian | Actor's Playhouse |
| 1990 | Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll | Eric Bogosian | Orpheum Theatre |
| 1994 | Some People | Danny Hoch | The Public Theater |
| 1994 | Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead | Eric Bogosian | Minetta Lane Theatre |
| 1995 | subUrbia | Eric Bogosian | Studio Theater (DC) |
| 1997 | The Flatted Fifth | Seth Zvi Rosenfeld | INTAR Theatre |
| 1998 | Stray Cats | Warren Leight | Naked Angels |
| 1998 | Stop Kiss | Diana Son | The Public Theater |
| 1998 | Jails, Hospitals & Hip Hop | Danny Hoch | PS 122, US & International Tour |
| 1999 | Look Back in Anger | John Osborne | CSC Theatre |
| 2000 | Wake Up and Smell the Coffee | Eric Bogosian | Jane Street Theatre |
| 2000 | House Arrest * Directorial Consultant | Anna Deavere Smith | The Public Theater |
| 2001 | Good Thing | Jessica Goldberg | The New Group |
| 2001 | Slanguage | Universes | NY Theatre Workshop |
| 2001 | References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot | José Rivera | The Public Theater |
| 2002 | Adoration of the Old Woman | José Rivera | La Jolla Playhouse |
| 2002 | Humpty Dumpty | Eric Bogosian | McCarter Theatre Center |
| 2003 | Living Out | Lisa Loomer | Second Stage Theater |
| 2003 | Fifth of July | Lanford Wilson | Signature Theater |
| 2004 | Fat Pig | Neil LaBute | MCC |
| 2004 | Anna in the Tropics | Nilo Cruz | Arena Stage |
| 2005 | A Soldier's Play | Charles Fuller | Second Stage Theater |
| 2005 | On the Mountain | Christopher Shimm | Playwrights Horizons |
| 2005 | Top Girls | Caryl Churchill | Williamstown Theatre Festival |
| 2006 | subUrbia | Eric Bogosian | Second Stage Theater |
| 2006 | Some Girl(s) | Neil LaBute | MCC |
| 2006 | The Seven | Will Power | NY Theatre Workshop |
| 2007 | All That I Will Ever Be | Alan Ball | NY Theatre Workshop |
| 2008 | Beast | Michael Weller | NY Theatre Workshop |
| 2010–2011 | The Break of Noon | Neil LaBute | MCC, Geffen Playhouse |
| 2012 | Emotional Creature | Eve Ensler | Market Theater (Johannesburg), Cine 13 (Paris), Berkeley Rep, Signature Theatre |
| 2012 | An Early History of Fire | David Rabe | The New Group |
| 2013 | Small Engine Repair | John Pollono | MCC |
| 2013 | The Mound Builders | Lanford Wilson | Signature Theatre |
| 2014–2016 | Father Comes Home from the War (Parts 1, 2, and 3) | Suzan-Lori Parks | The Public Theater, London Royal Court, ART, CTG |
| 2015 | Lost Girls | John Pollono | MCC |
| 2015 | Kinship | Carey Perloff | Williamstown Theatre Festival |
| 2016 | The Body of an American | Dan O'Brien | Primary Stages |
| 2017 | The Red Letter Plays: F-ing A | Suzan-Lori Parks | Signature Theatre |
| 2017 | Cost of Living | Martyna Majok | Manhattan Theater Club |
| 2018 | Eve's Song | Ione Patricia Lloyd | The Public Theater |
| 2018 | Mlima's Tale | Lynn Nottage | The Public Theater |
| 2018 | An Ordinary Muslim | Hammaad Chaudry | NY Theatre Workshop |
| 2018 | The Untranslatable Secrets of Nikki Corona | José Rivera | Geffen Playhouse |
| 2019 | The Way She Spoke | Isaac Gomez | Audible Theater |
| 2020 | 72 Miles to Go | Hilary Bettis | Roundabout Theatre Company |
| 2023 | Sabbath's Theater | John Turturro and Ariel Levy | Pershing Square Signature Center |