
Photo: THIS MUCH I KNOW at Aurora Theatre Company, 2022 (photo by Kevin Berne)
Biography
Josh Costello is the Artistic Director of Aurora Theatre Company, where he has directed Exit Strategy, The Importance of Being Earnest, Detroit, Wittenberg, The Heir Apparent, and the world premiere of Eureka Day, which won every Bay Area new play award. His world-premiere production of Aaron Loeb’s Ideation with the San Francisco Playhouse, which won the Glickman Award for best new play in the … Continue reading Biography
Little Brother
world premiere by Josh Costello
based on the novel by Cory Doctorow
Custom Made Theatre Company
“A total marvel… powerful and brilliant”
-io9
“requires watching… it’s a tense, power-packed play… eloquent, touching and infuriating in all the right places”
-Marin Independent-Journal
Eureka Day
world premiere
by Jonathan Spector
Aurora Theatre Company
winner of every award for best new play in the Bay Area
One of the best plays of 2018
-San Francisco Chronicle
Exit Strategy
Bay Area Premiere
by Ike Holter
Aurora Theatre Company
September 2019
The Importance of Being Earnest
by Oscar Wilde
Aurora Theatre Company
“delightful… captivating…”
-Talkin’ Broadway
“sheer comic brilliance”
-SF Examiner
Ideation
world premiere by Aaron Loeb
San Francisco Playhouse
Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters
Winner, Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Direction
Critic’s Pick
-New York Times
Detroit
by Lisa D’Amour
Bay Area Premiere
Aurora Theatre Company
“astutely directed… funny and horrifying”
-SF Examiner
One of the top ten best plays of 2015
-San Jose Mercury News
Wittenberg
Bay Area premiere
by David Davalos
Aurora Theatre Company
“copious waves of laughter… a comic feast of brain ticklers”
-Rob Hurwitt, SF Chronicle
“witty… hilarious… it’s so darn clever and charming”
-KQED
The Heir Apparent
by David Ives from Jean-François Regnard
Bay Area Premiere
Aurora Theatre Company
“Hits the laugh jackpot”
-San Jose Mercury News
“Pure fun”
-San Francisco Chronicle
Reborning
world premiere by Zayd Dohrn
San Francisco Playhouse
“A major triumph… Costello has drawn magnificent performances from his three-actor ensemble”
-Huffington Post
“Directed with just the right balance of rawness and finesse”
-SF Weekly
My Children! My Africa!
by Athol Fugard
Marin Theatre Company
“brilliantly directed by Josh Costello”
-KGO
[Highest Rating]
“Packs an enormous punch… three exceptional actors and a skilled director… heart-wrenching”
-SF Chronicle
Romeo & Juliet: the Fire Ballet
world premiere created by Michael Sturtz
music by Sergei Prokofiev and DJ Vordo
The Crucible Industrial Arts Center
“It’s all fun and fabulous, but it’s also — thanks to solid acting from the entire ensemble –surprisingly dramatically effective.”
-SF Chronicle
Hamlet
by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare-by-the-Sea
outdoor performances in LA and Orange County
“a first-rate production of working professionals who demonstrate their talents under the informed, high-spirited direction of Josh Costello”
-Long Beach Press-Telegram
The Rover
by Aphra Behn
adapted by Josh Costello
world premiere
Chance Theatre Repertory Company
and live television broadcast
(southern California)
“inventive and pleasurable, showcasing Behn’s sharp wit and Costello’s inspired imagination…”
-BackStage West
more productions
“director Josh Costello has wrought an organic production whose every facet fits the larger mosaic, forming a harsh, wrenching, bittersweet tale”
-OC Register
“an ambitious foray into no-frills contemporary drama… authentic, rough language… Costello directs with a sure hand”
-East Bay Express