Joe Murphy appointed as Birmingham Rep's new Artistic Director

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Joe Murphy as the new Artistic Director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

Currently Joe, 39, is the Artistic Director of the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff. During his five year tenure at the Sherman Theatre, audience numbers have reached their highest ever annual levels, the theatre has staged over 18 world premieres and was nominated for The Stage’s Theatre of the Year Award and The Sky Arts Theatre Award. 

Joe was Associate Director on the adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. Originally made as a two-parter for The RSC, on which Joe also worked, Wolf Hall went into the West End before heading to Broadway.

Prior to this, his career as a stage director and creative artist includes work at The Old Vic, Shakespeare’s Globe, The Bush, Soho Theatre and the Chichester Festival Theatre. He has toured work to New York, Moscow, St Petersburg, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bengaluru (Bangalore).

Joe Murphy says:

Birmingham Rep is a local theatre with a global reach, I am absolutely thrilled to join at an exciting time for the theatre and for the city. The Rep is a powerhouse of drama, and I look forward to working with the talented team there and the community in and around Birmingham.”

At The Rep, Joe will lead an artistic team which includes Madeleine Kludje, as newly appointed Deputy Artistic Director, and Iqbal Khan who is re-appointed as Associate Director.

Andy Street, Chair of The Rep, said:

I couldn’t be more delighted to be appointing Joe as Artistic Director. He comes to The Rep as one of the brightest young directors of his generation with an incredible track record of success. I’m confident that under his leadership The Rep will thrive artistically and connect with even more audiences and participants across the city and beyond.

“I’m especially pleased he will be joined by Deputy Artistic Director Madeleine Kludje and Associate Director Iqbal Khan in delivering our mission to be one of the best regional theatres in the UK and internationally and I look forward to working with the team to realise this ambition.”

Madeleine Kludje, The Rep’s Deputy Artistic Director and director of the premiere of Swim, Aunty, Swim!, which won Best New Play at the 2024 UK Theatre Awards, added:

I am thrilled to take on the role of Deputy Artistic Director and to work alongside new Artistic Director, Joe Murphy, to take The Rep forwards. We will continue to forefront artists, creatives and communities from across the Midlands and beyond to create fantastic work and projects and hope to carve out a new vision for the theatre that feels authentic and distinctively Rep.”

Joe Murphy will move to Birmingham when he formally takes up his appointment in early spring next year.