Jo Randerson
Director, Dramaturgy, Playwright
Jo Randerson ONZM (they/them) is an Arts Foundation New Generation Laureate, and the founder and artistic director of Barbarian Productions. They are an award-winning playwright and author and a graduate of the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University. Jo has published four volumes of short fiction and poetry and a number of play. As a writer they have been twice-nominated for the IIML prize, received the Bruce Mason award, completed a Burns Fellowship at Otago University, and won the NZIFF Patron’s Choice Award for their first short screenplay Hey Brainy Man!
Jo is the creator of Barbarian’s twenty-five year catalogue of works, from their seminal solo performance Banging Cymbal, Clanging Gong (2001) to large-scale outdoor immersive experiences U R Here (2023) & U R Back (2024). Jo completed their Masters in Theatre Arts (Directing) at Toi Whakaari: The NZ Drama School in 2012. Their theatre work has also attracted many accolades, including Absolutely Positively Most Original Production and Best Director - Wellington Theatre Awards 2019 and the ‘Unf**k the World’ award - Auckland Fringe Awards 2021 for Cook Thinks Again, and Winner: Excellence For Overall Production, Auckland Theatre Awards 2019 for Sing it to My Face. In 2023 they received the Topp Prize for Comedy. Photo credit: Matt Grace
