JOY NESBITT
ABOUT ME
Joy Nesbitt is a writer and director originally from Dallas, Texas, now based in London. Her work is inspired by stories of Black Femininity and postcolonial imagination. She has written and directed projects for both stage and screen in the UK, Ireland, and the US.
In 2022, Joy graduated from the The Lir National Academy of Dramatic Arts with an MFA in Theatre Directing. She was awarded the 2021 Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts for the sum of her artistic activities at Harvard University.
As a playwright, Joy is currently under commission at the Royal Court Theatre and Corrib Theatre. She has also had her plays professionally produced at well known theatres and festivals including The Dublin Fringe Festival, The Dublin Theatre Festival, The Camden Fringe Festival, and The Williamstown Theatre Festival. She has been nominated for the Verity Bargate Award, The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, Theatre503 International Playwriting Award, Fishamble New Writing Award, Solas Nua New Voices Award, and the Project Arts Centre’s Radical Spirit Award. She has also been a Writer under the mentorship of Enda Walsh for Theatre For One with Landmark Productions, and a member of the 2023 cohort of the Rachel Baptiste Programme at Smock Alley Theatre.
As a Director, Joy has worked across acclaimed stages internationally. She has directed productions at the Abbey Theatre, Bush Theatre, Talawa Theatre, Project Arts Centre, Camden People’s Theatre, Corrib Theatre, and the American Repertory Theatre. Joy has been a Director SEED for Rough Magic Theatre Company and a Black Theatre United TheatreMaker Fellow at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She has also been named on The Irish Times and Sunday Times' lists of "Ones to Watch in 2024."
Joy’s work in film and television includes the Virgin Media Discovers–commissioned short The Knife (Keeper Pictures), which was showcased at the Dublin International Film Festival, Norwegian International Short Film Festival, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora, and more in 2025. She was also a staff writer on Gangsta Granny (BBC & Elk Studios).
Explore her work at www.joynesbitt.com
Residencies + Fellowships
2023-2024
Director Strand
2023-2024
Writer in Development
2021
Production Management Theater-Maker
SEEDS Apprenticeship Program
Rough Magic Theatre Company
Rachel Baptiste Programme
Smock Alley Theatre
BIPOC Early Career Theater-Makers Program
Black Theater United at The Williamstown Theater Festival
Awards
The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting Longlist
(Good by Joy Nesbitt)
The Prize is a partnership between the Royal Exchange Theatre and property company Bruntwood. It is Europe's biggest playwriting prize and is open to writers of any background and experience.
At the heart of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting is the principal that anyone and everyone can enter the Prize – it is entirely anonymous and scripts are judged purely on the basis of the work alone and with no knowledge of the identity of the playwright. Since it began in 2005 over 15,000 scripts have been entered, £304,000 has been awarded to 34 prize winning writers and 26 winning productions have been staged in 38 UK wide venues. In 2015 it celebrated its 10th anniversary and is now recognised as a launch-pad for some of the country’s most respected and produced playwrights.
April 2025
Royal Exchange Theatre
Manchester, UK
Theatre503 International Playwriting Award 2025 Longlist
(Good by Joy Nesbitt)
The Theatre503 International Playwriting Award seeks to identify and support debut and emerging playwrights from around the world. The award is open to playwrights who have not yet had a full-length play professionally produced for a specified duration (e.g., 3-4 weeks in any theater, or 2 weeks in a major subsidized theater). The winner receives a cash prize and an advance against royalties for a production at Theatre503, with the exclusive license to produce the play for a set period.
November 2025
Theatre503
London, UK
Verity Bargate Award Longlist
(Good by Joy Nesbitt)
In its 42nd year and from a record number of 1700 submissions, 20 new plays have been longlisted for Soho Theatre’s new writing competition, the Verity Bargate Award, sponsored by Character 7. It is open to writers based in the United Kingdom and Ireland and it is recognised as one of the oldest and most prestigious playwriting prizes of its kind. Since its formation it has been an important springboard for the careers of some of Britain's most established playwrights and screenwriters.
October 2024
Soho Theatre
London, UK
Fishamble New Writing Award Shortlist
(JULIUS CAESAR VARIETY SHOW by Joy Nesbitt)
Awarded to an Irish (or Irish based) writer for a new play premiered in the Dublin Fringe Festival. The award includes a targeted package of dramaturgical supports for the writer. Selected by Fishamble: The New Play Company via application process.
September 2023
Dublin Fringe Festival
Dublin, Ireland
September 2023
Dublin Fringe Festival + Project Arts Centre
Dublin, Ireland
Radical Spirit Award Shortlist
(JULIUS CAESAR VARIETY SHOW by Joy Nesbitt)
Co-presented by Dublin Fringe Festival and Project Arts Centre. An Irish artist dedicated to making bold contemporary work and who embodies the spirit of Fringe and Project.
Solas Nua New Voices Award Shortlist
(JULIUS CAESAR VARIETY SHOW by Joy Nesbitt)
The Solas Nua New Voices Award is an international partnership with Solas Nua in Washington D.C. This initiative will give one playwright in the festival the opportunity to have a reading of their play performed at Solas Nua in Washington. It will be awarded to a writer with a singular voice who is making work that speaks to contemporary social, political or cultural issues. This award will facilitate a public play reading of the script by Solas Nua in Washington which will be coordinated in conversation with the playwright.
September 2023
Dublin Fringe Festival + Solas Nua
Dublin, Ireland + Washington, D.C.
Fishamble New Writing Award
(endings. by Fionntán Larney)
Awarded to an Irish (or Irish based) writer for a new play premiered in the Dublin Fringe Festival. The award includes a targeted package of dramaturgical supports for the writer. Selected by Fishamble: The New Play Company via application process.
September 2023
Dublin Fringe Festival
Dublin, Ireland
September 2023
Dublin Fringe Festival
Dublin, Ireland
The Listowel Residency “The George Fitzmaurice Award”
(The King of All Birds by Martha Knight)
St. John’s Theatre, Listowel is a venue dedicated to nurturing new talent. They are currently collaborating with experimental Theatre Maker, Richard Walsh, on creating a program of works that will make Listowel a hub for experimental art in rural Ireland. This award will connect an experimental artist with an original voice with the St John’s Theatre, Listowel via a two weeks residency.
May 2021
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts
Recognizes the Harvard senior with the most outstanding artistic talent and achievement in the composition or performance of film music, drama, dance, or visual arts
May 2021
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Ethnicity, Migration, and Rights Senior Thesis Prize
Recognizes projects that contribute to current scholarly discourses about ethnicity, migration, indigeneity, race, and/or rights
Education
2021-2022
The Lir Academy of Dramatic Arts
Dublin, Ireland
Masters of Fine Arts in Theatre Directing
Received the George J. Mitchell Scholarship from the US Ireland Alliance
2017-2021
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
A.B. in Social Anthropology and Music
Secondary Field in Theater, Dance, and Media
Graduated with Highest Honors