Joshua Maxwell (they/them) is a disabled, non-binary playwright, theatre-maker and arts advocate based on Darkinjung Country on New South Wales’ Central Coast. For over 20 years, they have worked within the Australian arts ecology, contributing to more than 300 projects across community, independent and professional theatre, with a long-standing commitment to youth arts and regional practice.

They co-founded Jopuka Productions in 2016 and served as Artistic Director until 2024, shaping it into one of regional Australia’s leading youth theatre organisations. They now own and operate Watermelon Jam, an independent production and consulting house.

As a writer, Joshua’s work includes Bogan (2018) and the Southern Skies Trilogy: Very Happy Children with Bright and Wonderful Futures (2022 Australian Writers’ Guild Award nomination for Best Writing for Youth and Community), Space Cadets (2024) and On A Night Like This (2025). In 2025, they published their first anthology of plays, Liminal. A second anthology, Next of Kin, will be released in late winter 2026.

Joshua was publicly involved in the 2017 Marriage Equality Campaign, appearing across national media to speak about growing up in a queer family. In 2019, they launched #ausartsforclimateaction, coordinating industry-wide open letters in support of the School Strike movement, advocacy that directly informed their playwriting. In 2024–2025, they stepped back from full-time arts leadership to undergo their third open-heart surgery due to a congenital heart condition. They have now returned to work and are developing a memoir exploring their health and life journey, currently titled Been Dead, Done That.

They are a two-time recipient of the John Bell Scholarship at the Bouddi Foundation for the Arts (2021 and 2023). Their broader contributions have been recognised through inclusion in the Express Advocate’s 100 Most Influential Central Coast Residents, the 2020 Arts, Cultural and Entertainment Citizen of the Year Award (Central Coast Council), the 2020 Central Coast Volunteer of the Year Award (NSW Centre for Volunteering), and the 2023 Sydney BroadwayWorld Award for Best Director.

Joshua has also served as a judge for the Sydney Theatre Awards and on the boards of ASSITEJ Australia, Wyong Drama Group, and Ramble Arts (formerly Riverland Youth Theatre), and is currently a board member of Canberra Youth Theatre. Joshua is a regular theatre critic for Stage Whispers and Theatre Thoughts Australia.