Joel Horwood

Born and raised on Whadjuk Nyoongar land, Joel (they/them) graduated from the Acting program at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 2014.

While in their final year at WAAPA, Joel was cast as Henry in Next to Normal for Black Swan State
Theatre Company, for which they were awarded Best Supporting Actor at the Performing Arts WA
Awards. More recently, Joel embarked on a national tour with Monkey Baa Theatre Company,
performing multiple roles in the stage adaptation of Hitler’s Daughter by Jackie French.

In 2023, Joel made their directorial debut with Noel Howard’s Hay Fever for ACT Hub. They followed
this production with Shakespeare’s epic tragedy, King Lear, which was lauded as Canberra’s best
theatre production of 2023 by City News arts editor, Helen Musa. As assistant director, Joel has
worked on The Village Bike (Old Fitz, dir: Rachel Chant), and Ruthless! The Musical (Echo Theatre, dir:
Jordan Best), which received accolades at the 2022 Canberra Critics Circle Awards.

As an actor, Joel has appeared on stage as Bobby Strong in Urinetown (Hayes Theatre & Heartstrings
Theatre), Timothy Conigrave in Holding the Man (Everyman Theatre), Pvt. Matterson in The Hello
Girls (Heartstrings Theatre), Jack Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest (ACT Hub), Warren in
Wolf Lullaby (Echo Theatre), multiple roles in The Laramie Project (Mockingbird Theatre), and Phil in
Queers (Everyman Theatre).

Joel’s screen credits include Josh in Last King of the Cross (Paramount +), Dan White in Secret City
(Foxtel) and Len Barwick in The War That Changed Us (ABC/Electric Pictures). In 2021, Joel made
their feature film debut in The Greenhouse (Thomas Wilson-White) which was selected for BFI Flare
in London, Frameline in San Francisco and won Best Australian Feature at Melbourne Queer Film
Festival 2021. The film is currently streaming on Netflix.

Productions

• Sweet Charity (April 2025)